Voter Registration Faqs
Who May Register to Vote?
Any citizen of the United States who is or will be eighteen (18) years of age or older before the date of the next election and who is a resident of Tennessee may register to vote unless disqualified under the law. T.C.A 2-2-102 and 2-2-104.
How and Where May Qualified Voters Register?
Qualified voters register to vote by obtaining and completing a voter registration form and filing the form with the local county election commission. Persons may register in Tennessee: in person and by mail. T.C.A. 2-2-108, 2-2-110, 2-2-115, 2-2-116, 2-2-201, and 2-2-202.
How Do You Register In Person?
Registration forms may be completed at the local county election commission office, Department of Safety (motor vehicles division), Department of Health (WIC program), Department of Human Services, Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Department of Veteran's Affairs, public libraries.
How Do You Register By Mail?
Voter registration-by-mail forms may be obtained from the county election commission office, the post office, and a variety of other public offices across the state. You may also download a Voter Registration Form by clicking here.
Mail To:
White County Election Commission
1 Bockman Way
Courthouse Room 215
Sparta, TN. 38583
When May A Qualified Voter Register?
In order to participate in an election, a qualified voter must be properly registered no later than thirty (30) days before the election. The election commission office will process any by-mail voter registration form that has been postmarked at least thirty (30) days before the election. T.C.A 2-2-109.
Voter Registration of Non-Resident Property Owners
Otherwise qualified voters who own real property within a municipality in which they do not live may register to vote if the municipal charter extends the right to vote to non-resident property owners. Non-resident property owners must provide proof of property ownership at the time of registration. Consult local election commission offices for further information or the city attorney of the municipality in which property is owned. T.C.A. 2-2-107.
Residency For Purpose of Voter Registration
Principles For Determination of Residence
To determine whether a person is a resident of Tennessee, the registrar must consider the following factors:
1. The residence of a person is the place where the person's habitation is fixed and is where, during periods of absence, the person definitely intends to return.
2. A person can have only one residence.
3. A change of residence is made not only by relocation, but also by intent to remain in the new location permanently, and by demonstrating actions consistent with that intention.
4. The following factors may be considered:
Location of the person's occupation;
Place of licensing or registration of the person's personal property;
Place of payment of taxes which are governed by residence;
Purpose for a person's presence in a particular place; and
Place of the person's licensing for activities such as driving.
5. The place where a married person's spouse and family live is presumed to be that person's residence, unless that person takes up or continues abode with the intention of remaining in a place other than where the spouse and family reside.
6. No person gains or loses residency solely by presence in or absence from the state while employed in the service of the United States or this state, or while a student at an institution of higher learning, or while kept in an institution at public expense.
Voter Registration of Previously Convicted Felons
Article 4, §2 of the Tennessee Constitution provides that the Tennessee legislature may deny the right to vote to persons convicted of "infamous" crimes. Pursuant to this provision in the Tennessee Constitution, the Tennessee legislature has excluded individuals convicted of various felonies from the right of suffrage.
However, the legislature has also established conditions and procedures through which individuals who have lost their voting rights may regain them. The manner in which a person may restore a lost voting right depends upon the crime committed and the year in which the conviction occurred.
Felony Conviction After May 18, 1981
Conviction Between January 15, 1973 and May 17, 1981
Conviction Prior to January 15, 1973