The heat was on Saturday, but the election enthusiasm was on point for candidates and their supporters as the first five early voting locations opened for Shelby County’s Aug. 2 general election and the state/federal primary. Rallying despite the heat at the Election Commission’s office were, from left, Phillip Walker on behalf of Mick Wright (R-County Commission, Dist. 3), candidate Patricia Possell (Dist. 96 House of Representatives), Paul Houston with a patriotic hat and a tall stack of signs for four candidates he’s supporting, and Mike Boeckmann for Richard DeSaussure (criminal court clerk). Photo by Carolyn Bahm.Judy Cunningham takes a momentary break from waving to early voters Saturday near the Shelby County Election Commission polling place (980 Nixon Drive, Memphis). She hopes to encourage citizens to vote for Floyd Bonner for county sheriff. As you can see from the stickers on her shirt, she has already followed her own advice and cast her vote. Cunninggham was among the 2,766 Shelby County residents who had voted by the time last weekend was over, despite just five early polling locations open on Friday and Saturday. Those locations were open again on Monday, and the others opened as of Tuesday. See the full list of early voting locations at shelbyvote.com. Photo by Carolyn Bahm.
