For weeks, Tennessee citizens have heard the political banter and mud slinging between the 2002 candidates for office.
Today, voters will show their support or opposition for the candidates and the parties they represent.
The Shelby County voting polls opened at 7 a.m., and will close at 7 p.m.
Bill Marty, political science professor at The University of Memphis, said he hopes that students have informed themselves about the candidates and parties.
He said candidates are often evasive during their campaigns.
“Sometimes people should focus more on the issues a party represents rather than those of an individual,” he said. “That’s the inexpensive way, in terms of effort, to inform yourself,” he said.
“But you can’t always guarantee a candidate will stand for what his or her party stands for.”
He said that people tend to vote for a party, but still need to be informed.
“If they can have an informed vote, they should vote,” he said. “But if not, they should leave it to informed voters.”
The candidates have been neck and neck according to a poll conducted by The Commercial Appeal and WREG News Channel 3.
The most recent poll shows Republican candidate Lamar Alexander, who made a campaign stop yesterday at the Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management on The University of Memphis campus, has a slight lead over Democratic candidate Bob Clement in the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Fred Thompson, a Republican.
According to the poll, Republican gubernatorial candidate Van Hilleary and Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen have both been the leader at some time in the race. Currently, Hilleary is ahead by a small percentage.
Dick Mahood, political science professor at The U of M, said it is difficult to predict the outcome of the election and the lottery referendum because the polls have been so uncertain.
He said that some students seem to be distanced from the campaign because the parties have not clearly developed their stands on the issues.
“Students are still making up their minds,” he said.
Mahood said he feels that most of the campaigns are geared toward middle-aged voters.
However, most students have an opinion about the lottery, he said.
“It has a good chance of passing,” he said. “But the opposing party is picking up steam.”
The religious community has recently stepped up its anti-lottery campaign by telling worshippers to vote no on the lottery measure.
A recent poll conducted by The Commercial Appeal and News Channel 3 show the lottery race has come down to a statistical dead heat.
The poll showed 41 percent favored a state lottery and 40 percent opposed it.
Another 7 percent said they “favor somewhat” a lottery while another 4 percent said they “oppose somewhat” the lottery. Eight percent said they had no opinion.
He also said negative campaigning by candidates eventually turns people off.
“Most students are apathetic about the whole campaign,” he said. “Because they have other things going on there is a very low turnout.”
There are 587,551 registered voters in Shelby County, according to the Shelby County Election Commission.
Only 190,890 eligible voters cast ballots in the August 2002 election.
