Voters are lined up all the way out the voting place to the steps of the historic Rhea County Courthouse as early voting started
Rhea County is not alone this election season in seeing heavy turnout for early voting for the Nov. 5 election.
Administrator of Elections Felicia Goodman said as of Saturday some 2,519 votes have been cast. This surpasses the entire vote of the August County General and State Primaries of 2,224.
In Hamilton County, 34,558 have already voted in just the first four days.
Ms. Goodman said on the first day some 711 persons appeared for early voting. This year the Election Commission is having extended hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 6 p.m. for those who work during the day to be able to early vote.
“So far, the extended hours are working out. We were so busy Thursday we didn’t track how many we had come in after 4:30 but we had a total of 748 that voted on Thursday,” she said.
Starting Monday, early voting will take place in Spring City at the Municipal Hall. Voting will still continue at the Dayton Office as well. The hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to noon.
So far Statewide some 341,934 statewide have cast early votes.
Voters must bring a photo ID to the polls to be given a ballot. That can be a state driver's license, state ID card or a form of federal identification, like a passport or military ID, that has a photo. Gun permits are accepted, and college identifications are not.