24 state have caucuses or primaries today, and CNN is already reporting large turnouts.
Increased voter registration and some long lines Tuesday pointed to a big turnout of voters for presidential primary contests across the country.
[...]In Georgia, waits of up to two hours were reported at some polling places in Atlanta, CNN affiliate WSB-TV reported.
Earlier, one hundred Georgians lined up in the dark outside a suburban Atlanta polling station even before it opened, according to WSB.
Here in Knoxville, it appears that voter turnout is the highest it’s been in years, in fact, nearly 38,000 people early voted here in Knox County TN. And, on hubby’s way home, he saw lines snaking their way out of a school doors at at least one polling place.
Of course, Knox County, TN has some other races going on today, and being targeted in the NY Times was a local embarrassment.
Last January the state’s Supreme Court ruled that term limits approved by the county’s voters more than a dozen years ago — and essentially ignored — were valid. The court also clarified that the county has a charter form of government; this means that if its structure no longer suits you, dear people, you have the right to change it.
So empowered, the people began to wonder. Is it time this county of 400,000 adjust to being more suburban than rural? Does it need 19, count ’em, 19 county commissioners? Could various political fiefdoms — the county clerk, the property assessor, the register of deeds — be broken up by having those elected positions appointed by the county mayor instead?
The County Commission, though, had little time for such earnest reflection. In a tizzy over those resurrected term limits, it had to replace 12 elected officials, including 8 of its 19 members — immediately. So, on Jan. 31, 2007, a day soon dubbed Black Wednesday, the commission violated the first rule in the Handy Handbook of Backroom Politics: It conducted its hack cronyism in public.
Before an audience of hundreds, the commission staged a political version of a bedroom farce, with its members calling repeated recesses, retreating to a back room, shouting at one another and even swearing in one appointee during a break.
Dear readers, this was a kind review of the GOP cronyism that runs this county. So, part of this county’s large turnout is due to the need to clean the county government up. And the local paper is getting into the blogging scene with updates throughout the day.
Polls close here soon. And when results come dribbling in, I’ll be back to update you all.
