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State poll opening and closing times
Early voting
Absentee/mail-in voting
All-post voting
Voter ID laws
Recount laws
Election access for major and pocket-size political party candidates
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The policies governing voter participation are enacted and enforced primarily at the state level. These policies, which include voter identification requirements, early voting provisions, online voter registration systems, and more, dictate the weather under which American citizens cast their ballots in their respective states.

This commodity includes the following information well-nigh voting policies in Tennessee:

  • Voter registration details, including deadlines and eligibility requirements.
  • In-person voting details, including identification requirements, poll times, and early voting provisions.
  • Absentee/post-in voting deadlines and rules.
  • Details nearly convicted felons' voting rights.
  • Contact information election agencies.
  • Summaries of noteworthy policy-related events.

Meet Ballot administration in Tennessee for more than additional information about election assistants in the state, including voter list maintenance policies, provisional election rules, and postal service-election auditing practices.

Voter registration

The table below displays voter registration information specific to Tennessee's 2022 primary election.

Voter registration in Tennessee
Registration URL Link
Registration status URL Link
Registration update URL Link
In-person registration deadline July 5, 2022
Mail registration borderline July 5, 2022
Mail postmark or receipt deadline Postmarked
Online registration borderline July 5, 2022
Same-day registration No
Early voting same-24-hour interval registration No

Eligibility and registration details

To register to vote in Tennessee, an applicant must be a citizen of the The states, a resident of Tennessee, and at least 18 years erstwhile by the solar day of the next election.[ane]

Prospective voters can register online, by mailing a voter registration application to the county election commission, or in person at a variety of locations including the canton clerk'southward part, the county election commission role, public libraries, and numerous state agencies. Registration must exist completed 30 days before an ballot.[1]

In-person voting

The table beneath displays in-person voting information specific to Tennessee's 2022 primary election.

In-person voting in Tennessee
All voters required to show ID Yes
ID types

Hover or tap here to encounter valid forms of voter ID Tennessee driver license with your photo; United States Passport; photograph ID issued by the Tennessee Section of Safety and Homeland Security; photograph ID issued past the federal or Tennessee state government; U.s.a. Military photo ID; Tennessee handgun bear permit with your photo.

ID source URL Link
Early on voting start engagement July xv, 2022
Early voting end date July 30, 2022
Weekend voting? N/A
Early voting source URL N/A
Ballot Day poll times Varies

Poll times

See also: State poll opening and closing times

In Tennessee, nearly polling places are open between 7 a.1000. and seven p.m. All precincts close at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and seven:00 p.one thousand. Central. The polls must exist open a minimum of 10 hours and may be open for a maximum of 13 hours. An individual who is in line at the time polls shut must exist allowed to vote.[2]

Voter identification

Meet likewise: Voter identification laws past state

Tennessee requires voters to present photograph identification while voting.[three]

Voters can nowadays the following forms of identification:

  • Tennessee commuter'southward license with photograph
  • United States passport
  • Photograph ID issued past the Tennessee Department of Prophylactic and Homeland Security
  • Photo ID issued by the federal or Tennessee country government
  • United States Military photo ID
  • Tennessee handgun conduct permit with photograph

The following voters are exempt from the photo ID requirements:

  • Voters who vote absentee by mail
  • Voters who are residents of a licensed nursing habitation or assisted living eye and who vote at the facility
  • Voters who are hospitalized
  • Voters with a religious objection to beingness photographed
  • Voters who are indigent and unable to obtain a photo ID without paying a fee

Voters tin obtain a free photo ID from the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security at whatever participating driver service middle. In social club to receive an ID, a voter must bring proof of citizenship (such as a birth certificate) and two proofs of Tennessee residency (such equally a voter registration menu, a utility bill, vehicle registration or title, or banking company statement). Visit the Tennessee Section of Safety and Homeland Security'south Voter Photo ID folio for more data.[3]

Early voting

See as well: Early voting

Tennessee permits early voting. Larn more by visiting this website.

Absentee/postal service-in voting

See too: Absentee/mail service-in voting

The table below displays absentee voting information specific to Tennessee's 2022 primary election.

Absentee voting in Tennessee
Are at that place limits on who tin can request a ballot? N/A
Mail service asking deadline July 28, 2022
Request postmark or receipt deadline Received
Mail return borderline Baronial four, 2022
Return postmark or receipt deadline Received
Notary/witness requirements Due north/A

Tennessee voters are eligible to vote absentee in an election if they cannot make it to the polls on Election Day for one of the following reasons:[4]

"
  • The voter will be outside the county of registration during the early voting period and all mean solar day on Election Day;
  • The voter or the voter'due south spouse is enrolled as a full-fourth dimension student in an accredited higher or university outside the county of registration;
  • The voter resides in a licensed facility providing relatively permanent domiciliary care, other than a penal institution, outside the voter'southward county of residence;
  • The voter will be unable to vote in person due to service equally a juror for a federal or state court;
  • The voter is sixty (60) years of age or older;
  • The voter has a physical inability and an inaccessible polling identify;
  • The voter is hospitalized, ill, or physically disabled and because of such condition, cannot vote in person;
  • The voter is a caretaker of a person who is hospitalized, sick, or disabled;
  • The voter is a candidate for part in the election;
  • The voter serves every bit an Election Day official or as a member or employee of the election commission;
  • The voter's observance of a religious holiday prevents him or her from voting in person during the early on voting catamenia and on Election Day;
  • The voter or the voter's spouse possesses a valid commercial drivers license (CDL) or the voter possesses a valid Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card and certifies that he or she will be working exterior the country or county of registration during the open hours of early voting and Election Day, and has no specific out-of-county or out-of-state address to which postal service may be sent or received during such fourth dimension;
  • The voter is a member of the armed services or is an overseas citizen.[5]
"
—Tennessee Secretary of State

To vote absentee, a request must be received by county election officials no before than 90 days and no later than seven days prior to the election. The completed election must then be returned past the close of polls on Election Day.[4]

Bedevilled felons' voting rights

Meet as well: Voting rights for bedevilled felons

In Tennessee, those who have committed an infamous criminal offense lose their right to vote, according to Article i, Section 5 of the land's constitution. Since many felonies are classified as infamous crimes, individuals bedevilled of felonies are often disqualified from voting and must petition for restoration of their voting rights upon completion of their sentence or receive a pardon from the governor. Click hither for more than information on the restoration of voting rights for individuals convicted of felonies in Tennessee and for a list of felony offenses classified equally infamous crimes. Procedure for restoring voting rights depends upon the year of conviction and nature of the felony committed.

Voting rights for convicted felons vary from country to state. In the bulk of states, bedevilled felons cannot vote while they are incarcerated but may regain the right to vote upon release from prison or at some point thereafter.[six] [7]

Election agencies

Seal of the U.Due south. Ballot Assistance Commission

Run into too: State election agencies

Individuals seeking boosted information about voting provisions in Tennessee tin can contact the following state and federal agencies.

Tennessee Country Elections Commission

312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue
7th Floor, Snodgrass Tower
Nashville, Tennessee 37243-1102
Telephone: 615-741-7956
Electronic mail: tennessee.elections@tn.gov

U.S. Election Assistance Commission

1335 Due east West Highway, Suite 4300
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
Telephone: 866-747-1471

Noteworthy events

2021

On June 12, 2020, several Tennessee organizations, including the Memphis A. Phillip Randolph Constitute and the Tennessee Land Conference of the NAACP, filed a move in the U.S. District Court for the Eye Commune of Tennessee for a preliminary injunction that would bar enforcement of a Tennessee law requiring first-fourth dimension voters to vote in person. The plaintiffs cited the COVID-xix pandemic equally a justification for the injunction. On September nine, 2020, Judge Eli Richardson granted the plaintiffs' move for a preliminary injunction, temporarily suspending the first-fourth dimension voter restriction. The country appealed that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. On October xix, 2020, a iii-judge panel of the 6th Circuit unanimously upheld the lower courtroom'southward order. The 6th Excursion panel included Judges Karen Moore, Julia Gibbons, and Chad Readler. Writing for the court, Gibbons said, "[Disrupting] the new rules at this signal poses pregnant hazard of harm to the public interest in orderly elections. In this instance, there is no substantial harm to [election officials] in standing to comply with rules they are currently post-obit."[8] [9]

However, on June 22, 2021, the same three-judge panel, at the conclusion of full briefing and oral statement, overturned the lower court'due south order. The panel split up 2-one with Gibbons and Readler forming the majority. In the court's opinion, Gibbons wrote:[10]

" [Plaintiffs'] motion for a preliminary injunction [is] inextricably tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, a once-in-a-century crisis. In their memorandum in back up of their movement for a preliminary injunction earlier the commune court, plaintiffs recognized that "these are non ordinary times." While plaintiffs claimed that the beginning-time restriction burned all starting time-time voters simply by making it more difficult for them to vote, plaintiffs' primal concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic ... Fortunately, because of advancements in COVID-19 vaccinations and treatment since this instance began, the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to pose a serious threat during the next election bicycle.[5] "
—Judge Julia Gibbons

Moore dissented, writing, "At the very least, COVID-19 is 'capable' of continuing to brunt this country through the next full general election, and thus it is reasonable to expect that ... voters ... will find themselves in a similar position to the one that they found themselves in on Nov 2, 2020. ... At least until nosotros are certain that COVID-xix will non exist a pregnant threat during the next election cycle, the majority'due south threadbare proclamations are not enough to moot this case."[x]

2018

On October 25, 2018, Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins, a state court judge, ordered the Shelby County Ballot Commission to permit voters with incomplete registrations cast regular ballots on Election Day after providing complete registration information. The committee had previously said that individuals voting on Election Day with incomplete registrations would exist required to cast provisional ballots owing to logistical concerns with completing registrations at polling places on the day of the election. Jenkins said, "The harm to the applicant [of casting a provisional election instead of a regular ballot] far outweighs the harm to the Shelby County Election Commission. Voter registration is a key component to the election process." The suit that gave rise to the ruling was initiated past the Tennessee Blackness Voter Project and the NAACP. Bob Dul, an attorney for the Tennessee Black Voter Projection, praised the ruling: "We tin all agree that our republic is strongest when everyone who is eligible can participate. I think this ruling is a huge victory for the citizens of Shelby County and we hope it volition lead to even more civic date in Tennessee." Linda Phillips, Shelby County's election administrator, said, "We are extremely disappointed by the court's ruling." In testimony earlier in the day on October 25, Phillips said, "It's possible nether the format [attorneys for the Tennessee Black Voter Projection are] suggesting for fraud to exist committed."[11]

Recent news

The link beneath is to the most contempo stories in a Google news search for the terms Tennessee voting. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

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See as well

  • Election administration in Tennessee

Elections in Tennessee

  • Tennessee elections, 2022
  • Tennessee elections, 2021
  • Tennessee elections, 2020
  • Tennessee elections, 2019
  • Tennessee elections, 2018

External links

  • Official land election website

Footnotes

  1. ↑ ane.0 1.one Tennessee Secretary of State, "Register to Vote," accessed October five, 2019
  2. ↑ Nashville Tennesseean, "What time can I vote on Ballot Twenty-four hour period in Tennessee?" November i, 2018
  3. ↑ 3.0 iii.1 Tennesse Secretary of State, "What ID is required when voting?," accessed October 7, 2019
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tennessee Secretary of State, "Absentee Voting," accessed December 16, 2013
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Notation: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Whatever inconsistencies are owing to the original source.
  6. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Felon Voting Rights," accessed July 15, 2014
  7. ↑ American Civil Liberties Marriage, "State Criminal Re-enfranchisement Laws," accessed September xiii, 2019
  8. ↑ United States Commune Courtroom for the Centre District of Tennessee, "Memphis A. Phillip Randolph Institute v. Hargett: Preliminary Injunction Guild," September ix, 2020
  9. ↑ The states Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, "Memphis A. Phillip Randolph Institute v. Hargett: Gild," Oct xix, 2020
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.ane United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, "Memphis A. Phillip Randolph Institute five. Hargett: Stance," June 22, 2021
  11. ↑ Commercial Appeal, "Election commission ordered to allow voters right applications, vote ordinarily on Election 24-hour interval," October 25, 2018

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