The Wilson Post
LEBANON WEATHER

County voters can select a polling place




Warren

Warren

Early voting for the March 3 primary election will kick off in Wilson County on Wednesday, Feb. 12 and continue through Feb. 25 with voters able to vote at any polling place in the county instead of a designated location for the first time. 

Early voting locations are: Election Commission office, 203 East Main St., Lebanon; Mt. Juliet Community Center, 1075 Charlie Daniels Parkway, Mt. Juliet; Gladeville Community Center, 95 McCreary Road, Gladeville; Lighthouse Church, 6141 Saundersville Rd., Mt. Juliet; and Watertown Community Center, 8630 Sparta Pike, Watertown. Any registered voter may vote at any polling location.

On Feb. 24 and Feb. 25, early voting is also available at the Statesville WEMA station, located at 7239 Greenvale Rd. in Norene.

All early voting locations will be open Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (Lighthouse Church closes at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays) and on Saturdays from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. 

“Our goal is to make the voting experience the best it can be for Wilson County voters. With five early voting locations open six days a week, an efficient and streamlined voting process, a state of the art voting system with a paper ballot that voters can hold in their hands and verify before casting, and the introduction of Vote Centers on Election Day we continue to enhance the experience each election cycle,” Wilson County Administer of Elections Phillip Warren said. 

 

New Republican primary

The Wilson County Republican Primary election will coincide with the Republican and Democratic Presidential Preference Primary, and voters will choose Republican candidates for Wilson County Property Assessor, General Sessions Division III, Wilson County Commission District 17, 15th Judicial District Public Defender and 15th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge. 

The Wilson County Republican Party’s move to hold a primary made Wilson County the 64th county in Tennessee to request a local primary. Tennessee voters are not required to register with a party, however voters in the Republican primary must be affiliated with or intend to affiliate with the Republican Party in order to vote in the primary. 

The winners of the Republican Primary election will appear on the general election ballot in August. 

Seven candidates filed petitions for several Wilson County offices.

The candidates include: Shelley Thompson Gardner, 15th Judicial District Public Defender; Ensley Hagan, Division III General Session Judge; Charles Leeman, Wilson County Property Assessor; Stephen Goodall, Wilson County Property Assessor; James (Rusty) Keith, Wilson County Commission District 17; and Joe Ali Husseini, Wilson County Commission District 17.

 

Sales tax on ballot

A referendum to increase the sales tax in Wilson County will also be included on the March 3 ballot. 

Voters may choose to vote only in the Sales Tax Referendum and not vote in the primary election.

If approved, the county sales tax rate would increase from 9.25 percent to 9.75 percent, which equals to about an additional 50 cents on a $100 purchase.

Half of all the sales tax collected in the county goes to education, earmarked for salary raises for teachers. Wilson County Schools is projected to receive $5.2 million if the sales tax increase is approved and Lebanon Special School District is projected to receive $900,000.

Lebanon would receive about $2.7 million, Mt. Juliet would receive about $2.3 million and Watertown would receive about $44,000 a year in additional tax revenues.

“Lebanon and Mt. Juliet might sneeze at that, but $44,000 for Watertown is a nice chunk,” Watertown Mayor Mike Jennings said at last month’s city council meeting. 

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