Regardless of how you feel about the way it turned out – let’s all take a deep breath and give thanks – Election Day is over!

I am not sure what Wilson County Administrator of Elections Phillip Warren and his fearless crew are up to on this Wednesday, but I hope they are getting a chance to relax. Over the past few weeks, I have kept in touch with them on a day-to-day basis, to get information for stories on early voting. They have worked tirelessly to make sure that both Early Voting and Election Day went smoothly for Wilson County.

51,715 of our county’s 75,824 registered voters cast their ballots in Tuesday’s general election. 31,896 of those individuals early voted.

Next election, I am FOR SURE voting early. I ran around like crazy yesterday trying to find A) Time and B) the right location to vote.

The great thing about early voting is that you can vote at ANY of the four designated Wilson County locations – which were the Election Commission in Lebanon, the Mt. Juliet Community Center, the Watertown Community Center and the Gladeville Community Center.

I should’ve have listened to Phillip Warren when he told me that early voting saves time and stress on Election Day, but I did not. For starters, I lost my Blue Voter Registration Card. Lucky for me, voters here are not required to present their voter cards at precincts, just a state or federally issued Photo ID.

I went to Southside Elementary School before work to vote, which is where I voted before. However, I was told when I arrived that I had been moved to another polling place – the Norene Community Center. On my lunch, I drove all the way out to Norene only to find that my assigned polling place was not the community center, but Cedars of Lebanon Park.

Last night, when I got another break in my schedule, I voted. It was just shortly before the 7 p.m. close, so I know I was cutting it to the wire, but I was successful in my voting quest!