Tennessee Votes Early in Record Numbers [View All]

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Far more Tennessee voters cast their ballots early this year than in any other non-presidential election, and an election official Friday gave credit to the contentious U.S. Senate race between Republican Bob Corker and Democrat Harold Ford Jr.

Final figures show that more than 867,000 ballots were cast during the early voting period - more than a quarter of the 3.3 million active registered voters the state reported in June.

The early vote total was a 49 percent increase over the more than 580,000 early ballots cast in the 2002 midterm elections.

"The Senate race and all the advertising with it has spurred people to go vote," said state election coordinator Brook Thompson.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/1-11032006-736533.html