The final turnout numbers for early voting, released Sunday by the Shelby County Election Commission, show 62,601 citizens – 10.7 percent of Shelby County’s 584,443 voters, voted early.

Of the more than 62,000 early voters, an even percentage – 48.9 percent cast ballots in the Republican primary and in the Democratic primary.

The remaining 2.2 percent chose not to vote in either primary and voted only on the general election races and ballot questions.

Earlier in the voting period in advance of the Aug. 2 election day, Republican primary turnout was as much as ten percentage points higher than Democratic primary turnout.

By race, 40.2 percent of the early voters were white and 30.5 percent were black. The remaining 29.3 percent were “other” meaning another race or a voter who did not indicate a race on his or her voter registration form.

Women were the majority of early voters – 58.2 percent.

Early voter turnout by the election day precincts voters live in was heaviest by precinct percentage in Germantown and Collierville, confirming that referendums in all six suburban towns and cities on forming municipal school districts was a major factor in early voter turnout.