MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Equipment is delivered and set up.
Wednesday, voters in Shelby County and across Tennessee will make their voices heard, as the two-week early voting period kicks off amid an ongoing global pandemic.
"We are cleaning regularly," Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips said.
Phillips said that's one of a number of COVID-19 precautions in place for early voting.
Voters are strongly encouraged to wear masks in Shelby County, voting machines are separated for social distancing, poll workers will wear masks, gloves and face shields, and @ShelbyVote will tweet updates about longer lines at busier locations.
"It's pretty much the same we did in August, you know - socially distancing, lots of hand sanitizer, masks, you get a pen you get to take home with you, pluck your own sticker out of the basket," Phillips said.
In 2016 in Shelby County, 71% of all participating voters cast a ballot during early voting, compared to 43% of registered voters overall.
The highest turnout came during six of the final seven days, and the early voting turnout in Shelby County almost broke the 2008 record.
"Based on registration I think there's a lot of interest in this election, an unprecedented number of online registration and a lot of paper has come into the office," Phillips said.
She also offered advice about which times are best for avoiding long lines for early voting.
"Times that are fairly slow are Friday evenings, you know, basically everyone leaves for work and voting isn't just on their minds," Phillips said.
Tennessee Elections Coordinator Mark Goins will also be keeping a close eye on Wednesday's early voting turnout totals statewide, especially after voters in other states this week waited up to 11 hours to cast a ballot.
"The first day of early voting, if you are looking at other states, that has been somewhat of an issue for other states, it seems to be a lot of interest and a lot of folks not wanting to procrastinate," Goins said. "Turnout is not a bad thing, we like turnout, but I would hope that people realize the first day, which is Wednesday, is going to be a peak time for us."
In all of Tennessee, early voting set a record in the 2016 presidential election.
Early voting ends Thursday, October 29th.
