Absentee Voting
What is absentee voting?
Who may apply to vote
absentee?
What is the process
for requesting the by-mail ballot?
Is any additional information
required for individuals who have registered to vote by
mail?
How can a registered
voter of Tennessee who possesses a valid commercial driver
license and who will be working outside of the county where
he or she is registered during the early voting period
and on election day during all the hours the polls are
open vote?
When may a registered
voter apply to vote by mail?
To be counted, when
must the ballot be received by the election commission?
What if I do not receive
or ruin my ballot and can no longer use it?
What if I do not provide
all of the information required on the by-mail ballot application?
Can the ballot be hand
delivered?
Absentee voting is a voting method that involves voting on a day earlier than the actual election day.
Tennessee has two forms of absentee voting:
Absentee in person, which is better known as early voting, and
Absentee by mail, which is commonly called by-mail voting.
2. Who may apply to vote absentee?
To vote as an early voter, a registered voter may vote without giving a reason during the established early voting period. The early voting period typically begins twenty (20) days before an election and ends five (5) days before an election. In those instances in a city election where there is not any opposition on the ballot, early voting begins ten (10) days before the election.To vote by mail, a registered voter must fall under one of the following categories:
The voter will be outside the county of registration during the early voting period and all day on election day;
The voter or the voter's spouse is enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited college or university outside the county of registration;
The voter's licensed physician has filed a statement with the county election commission stating that, in the physician's judgment, the voter is medically unable to vote in person. The statement must be filed not less than five (5) days before the election and signed under the penalty of perjury;
The voter resides in a licensed facility providing relatively permanent domiciliary care, other than a penal institution, outside the voter's county of residence;
The voter will be unable to vote in person due to service as a juror for a federal or state court;
The voter is sixty-five (65) years of age or older;
The voter has a physical disability and an inaccessible polling place;
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, ill, or disabled;
The voter is a candidate for office in the election;
The voter serves as 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 voting period and on election day;
The voter possesses a valid commercial driver license and certifies that he or she will be working outside the state or county of registration during the early voting period and all day on election day;
The voter is a member of the military or is an overseas citizen. more info....
3. What is the process for requesting the by-mail ballot?
A White County registered voter may request a by-mail ballot by simply writing to the county election commission office and making such a request over the voter's signature. The request may be mailed or faxed to the county election commission office. Upon receipt of the request, the election commission will mail an application for ballot to the voter.However, if the voter wants to expedite the application process, the voter may place the following information in the request for ballot:
The name of the registered voter; The address of the voter's residence; The voter's social security number; The address to mail the ballot outside the county (this applies only when the reason for voting by mail involves that the voter will be outside of the county during early voting and on election day); The election the voter wishes to participate in. If the election involves a primary, the political party in which the voter wishes to participate; The reason the voter wishes to vote absentee; and The voter's signature.
A request that contains this information will be treated and processed as an application for ballot, and a ballot will be mailed to the voter.
You may also download an Absentee Ballot Request Form by clicking here.
Mail To:
White County Election Commission
1 Bockman Way
Courthouse Room 215
Sparta, TN. 38583
4. Is any additional information required for individuals who have registered to vote by mail?
Unless an individual who has registered to vote by mail is on the permanent absentee voting register, that person must appear in person to vote in the first election after the registration becomes effective. If a by-mail registrant has already voted in person since the registration, then no additional information will be required to vote by mail. 5. How can
a person vote who possesses a valid commercial driver license
and who will be working outside the county of registration
during the early voting period and all day on election day?
If the voter possesses a valid commercial driver license and
does not have a specific out-of-county or out-of-state location
to which mail may be sent or received during the early voting
or election day hours, the voter may
:
6. When may a registered voter apply to vote by mail?
A registered voter may request an application for by-mail ballot no earlier than ninety (90) days before the election and no later than seven (7) days before the election. To be processed for the next election, the application must be received by the election commission no later than seven (7) days before the election.
7.
To be counted, when must the ballot be received by the election
commission?
8.
What if I do not receive or ruin my ballot and can no longer
use it?
9.
What if I do not provide all of the information required
on the by-mail ballot application?
10.
Can the ballot be hand delivered?