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 VOTER REGISTRATION
INFORMATION
IN
PERSON - You
may register to vote in person at the Election Commission office. I.D with proof of residency in Grainger
County is
required before you can
register. Registration is not transferable from county to county in Tennessee. You must be 18 yrs. of age on or before the
next election, a citizen of the United
States,
and must not have been convicted of a felony. You
do not register in Tennessee
by either Democrat or Republican as some states do.
Our office is located at:
119 Marshall Ave.,
Rutledge, TN
in the
old post office building. Office hours
are from 8:30 to 4:30 Mon. – Fri.
NVRA AGENCIES
– In Person registration is also available at these agencies. Safety Dept., Health Dept., Dept. of Human
Services. Applications from these
agencies will be mailed to our office for processing.
You are not a registered voter until you
receive your card.
BY MAIL – Public
libraries, high schools, office of County
Clerk and
Register of Deeds will
have by-mail forms. Our office
supplies
all post offices in our county with by –mail forms, with exception of
Rutledge,
since our office is close by. You can
print a by-mail form from the state web-site at the following address: www.state.tn.us/sos/election. A person who registers by-mail must vote in
person first time you vote.
 FEDERAL POST CARD APPLICATIONS (STANDARD
FORM 76)
This form is used
by Uniformed Services
Voters, U.S. Citizen temporarily residing outside the U.S, or an
eligible
spouse or dependent. The form serves as an application for temporary
registration, if they are not currently registered, and an application
for an
absentee ballot.
FILLING OUT THE REGISTRATION FORM – Please read the instructions on
the form
before you start. Print with either a blue or black pen (not felt tip),
provide
information on items 1-8, and read the voter declaration carefully. Please don’t forget to put a check mark or an
X after each question on the yes and no columns. This
is a common mistake that people make and
the result is a delay in processing the application.
Sign your name on the signature line. If a person is unable to sign his/her name,
then the signature of person assisting must sign.
FILING A TIMELY REGISTRATION APPLICATION - Before any election there is
deadline in
which you must apply in person or by-mail to register.
Applications will not be processed for (29)
days before the election. A qualified
voter may file a mail registration form by postmarking the registration
form or
submitting the form (30) days before an election.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS OR NAME -
It is important to keep your address
information current. Your address determines what precinct you will
vote in.
You may come to our office and update in person, or you may complete a
by-mail
form and mail to us, or you can simply send in your old voter’s card
with the
information filled out on the back of the card with your signature. We need your signature to make any change on
your registration, so requesting a change on the phone is not an
option. If you
wait until Election Day to update, you will need to complete additional
paperwork before you can vote, and depending on your address, you may
be sent
to a different precinct to vote in.
PURGING
-
You are considered a permanent registered voter
and will not be purged
unless:
- at the request of the voter in writing;
- 90 days after a change of name for any
reason, except by marriage;
- the voter dies;
- upon receiving information a voter has
been convicted of a felony;
- has registered in another county or
state;
- has been on inactive for a period of
two(2) November elections.
PRIMARY ELECTION PROCEDURES
Many questions are asked by the voters during the primary
election process. What is a primary? Why
do we have them? Why do we have to
choose? Explanation below:
WHAT IS A PRIMARY -
Primary is an election held for a political party for the
purpose of allowing members of that party to select a nominee or
nominees to
appear on the general election ballot. The
winners in each primary will be on the
general ballot along with any
independent candidates that have qualified for the election.
WHY DO WE HAVE THEM - Some
offices are mandatory. The call for a
primary has been established by
the general law and must
be held at the time required by the law. They
are:
- U.S. President/Delegate Candidate;
- Governor;
- Tennessee Senate;
- Tennessee House of Representatives;
- U.S. Senate;
- U.S. House of Representatives
OPTIONAL OFFICES - All county
offices. (excluding
school board members) If a primary is to
be held for a county
office, then we must receive from the county chairman of the political
party a
letter requesting the Election Commission to hold the primary. Municipal elections are also exempt from
partisan elections unless their charter permits.
WHY DO WE HAVE TO CHOOSE –
You
can’t vote in
two (primary elections) on
the same day. Obviously, you must mark
the primary you wish to vote in on the application, or the machine
operator
would not know how to set the machine for you to vote.
If you object to choosing a primary, then you
should wait until the general election to vote. Hopefully,
your candidate won the primary and
would still be on the
ballot.
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