Hey, Figment! I heard the same thing about low turn out. I live in the northeast part of Madison county.
The following is a link to county by county early/absentee voting numbers. It means nothing to me but might to people who live there.
http://www.tn.gov/sos/election/data/turnout/20120306.htm
Totals
Republican - 158,666
Democratic - 41,704
All - 201,278
Howdy neighbor. I’m in the airport area.The last day of early voting had about1/3 of the total