Shelby County sees lower voter turnout compared to past similar elections

Overall voter turnout, according to preliminary results from the Shelby County Election Commission, dropped yet again this year.

Early voting numbers were high, with the election commission touting 88,826 ballots being cast during the early voting period. However, the total vote tally ended with 131,845 of Shelby County's 580,401 registered voters casting their ballots this year — a 23% turnout.

That was down from the combined Shelby County general election and state and federal primaries from both 2022, which saw 23.6% turnout, and 2018, which saw 27.7% turnout.

On election day this year, 43,019 ballots were cast in Shelby County.

There were 41,091 Republican ballots including 27,316 through early voting, and 88,691 Democratic ballots including 60,601

through early voting. There were also 2,063 Nonpartisan ballots cast, 909 of which were cast through early voting.

The highest voter turnout was in precinct 07-10, in Midtown near the Memphis Zoo. That precinct had a 38% turnout rate. Three precincts in Shelby County — 08-02 near Frayser, 06-07 near Douglass and 05-02 near Bartlett — tied with the lowest voter turnout at 12%.

Lucas Finton covers crime, policing, jails, the courts and criminal justice policy for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by phone or email: [phone] and [e-mail], and followed on X @LucasFinton.

Jack Armstrong covers breaking news and the environment for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [e-mail] and followed on X @jca2902.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby County sees lower voter turnout compared to past similar elections