Blogs

Monday, June 20th was the first day for issuance of petitions in the November 8th Municipal Elections, which includes Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland and Millington. Petitions will be issued from both the Downtown and the Nixon offices from 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Deadline to file petitions is August 18th at Noon.

Nearly 40,000 voters cast their ballots during the Early Voting period for the Shelby County primary-only election. That’s nearly a 35% increase in turnout over the 2014 county primary-only election and on pace with the 2018 county primary election. 

Early voting for the May 3 County Primary Election began Wednesday, April 13 at 157 Poplar Avenue, one of the Election Commission offices, as mandated by law. 
 
Voters can view sample ballots here:
Democratic sample ballot
Republican sample ballot
 

We're hosting a new kind of Open House on April 7th between 4 and 7 p.m. at all Shelby County polling locations. This one is aimed at helping voters be Voter Ready in 2022!

It's a difference most would never notice, but our new precinct names are now in alignment with precinct names across Tennessee from the State's perspective.
 
Each precinct name now has six characters split by three hyphens. The new names will look more like this, 02-02-U2.

The third step in the redistricting process is nearly complete.  It was necessary to make some adjustment to the precinct lines that were approved in November as Tennessee law does not allow a precinct line to cross a Senate District.  The Governor has not yet signed the redistricting legislation so this map is not yet official. If you want to see the proposed precincts, click here.   

Step 2 in the redistricting process has been completed.  After the county commission drew the commission district lines, the Election Commission could begin our work.  We needed to review the precinct lines as we had some precincts that were too large, some that were too small, and many that needed the dividing lines reviewed. 

Following each Census, each legislative body in Tennessee must redraw their districts so that each district has roughly the same population.  This process is generally referred to as Redistricting.
The Election Commission plays no role in drawing the new district lines.  Drawing the lines is strictly the responsibility of the Legislature, County Commission, and City Councils.  Once those bodies have determined where their lines are, the Election Commission takes over and adjusts precinct lines as needed and notifies voters whose precincts have changed. 

The Election Commission is considered an essential service, so we are able to issue and accept petitions at both locations.  However, we urge citizens who do not need to file petitions to stay home and use our online services at GoVoteTN.com.  In order to make sure that our employees stay safe, we have cut our staffing to the minimum.