Election commission says ‘budget cuts’ forced cut in early voting days in Dickson

With early voting coming to an end tomorrow and over 7,000 votes cast so far, election officials said they have received several complaints about the reduced days that early voting has been offered in Dickson. In this year’s elections, early voting at the Restoration Church has been offered Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. In 2010 when early voting moved to its current location, early voting also was offered on Mondays. Administrator of Elections Linda Medley said the office has received a lot of complaints about only offering early voting three days a week in Dickson, but she says “budget cuts” wouldn’t allow more. Election Commission Chairman Jack Garton said the days for early voting in Dickson were chosen based on the turnout data from previous elections and that the commission has tried to make early voting as convenient as possible for the population as a whole. Other commissioners said some voters and even candidates have been confused by believing that the early voting schedule in Dickson County is the same as in other counties. The days early voting is offered are set by law, but the number of sites, days and hours other than at the election office is at the local commission’s discretion. Today is the final day for early voting at Restoration Church with polls open at the Dickson and Charlotte locations 8 am-7 pm. Tomorrow is the final day of early voting at the election office in Charlotte with polls open 8 am-4 pm. Through Tuesday, 7,026 early ballots have been cast in Dickson County.