Early voters out in force

Significantly topping numbers from 1999 and 2003 mayoral elections, a total of 48,590 people took advantage of the Metro early voting period that ended Saturday, according to Metro Elections Administrator Ray Barrett.

In the previous two mayoral elections, early voting totals hovered over 18,000.

“It was a good turnout,” Barrett said.

The early voters accounted for 14.5 percent of Davidson County’s 330,996 eligible voters. The election is Thursday.

Metro’s Edmondson Pike Library was the busiest early-voting site, with 5,953 ballots cast. Two other locations also saw more than 5,000 voters, according to Barrett.

The spike in early voting numbers might be attributed in part to the long lines and delays during last November’s election, but Barrett said that he does not envision a repeat of that this week.