Story by Jenene Grover | Contributing Writer
Early voting for the 2022 midterm elections begins today, Oct. 19, and ends Nov. 3 for Rutherford County voters. Election Day is on Nov. 8. The voter registration deadline for this election was Oct. 11.
Early Voting
For Rutherford County, there are many polling locations available for early voting:
— Rutherford County Election Office
— Murfreesboro SportsCom
— Rutherford County Election Commission Annex
— Lane Agri-Park Livestock Pavilion
— Middle Tennessee Assoc of Realtors
— World Outreach Church
— Smyrna City Hall
— Grace Church Smyrna
— LaVergne Multi-Purpose Building
The closest early voting locations to Middle Tennessee State University’s campus are Rutherford County Election Office and the Rutherford County Election Commission Annex.
Most early voting locations remain open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. from Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.-12 p.m. on Saturday. The Rutherford County Election Office stays open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. from Monday through Friday.
A Rutherford County voter registration card lists the voting location and the nearest vote center based on the address the card was registered with. It also lists all the districts the holder can vote for when receiving the ballot, including the county district, city ward, school/road district, state house, state senate and U.S. Congress.
Election Day
This year, on Election Day only, a voter can go to any of Rutherford County’s 28 voting locations. The closest locations to MTSU’s campus are Central Magnet School and Hobgood Elementary School.
While the voter registration card is important to bring on voting day, it is not a necessity. Voters need only bring a state or federal government ID with them to the polls.
Absentee ballots
There is an option for mail voting called an absentee ballot, but to vote this way, one must fall under one of many categories listed in full on the Tennessee secretary of state’s website.
MTSU campus residents who are registered to vote in another Tennessee county but are unable to vote there can use an absentee ballot. Voters can request an absentee ballot by downloading one on the secretary of state’s website.
In this round of Tennessee midterm elections, voters will be electing their local officials and voting on four state constitutional amendments.
Voters can find more information in the GoVoteTN app or on Tennessee’s secretary of state’s website.
To contact News Editor Matthew Giffin and Assistant News Editor Kailee Shores, email [email protected].
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