Thanks to legislation passed by the Tennessee legislature and administered by the Secretary of State and 95 county election commissions, Tennessee has the safest elections in the country, according to the Heritage Foundation Election Integrity Scorecard .
“I am grateful to The Heritage Foundation for this recognition,” said Lt. Gov. Randy McNally. Thank you to everyone working on the Tennessee election.” “The General Assembly has long understood the importance of election security. Confirming that the county is working toward producing a voter-verified paper audit trail by 2024 from photo identification. Until, Tennessee has always been at the forefront of electoral integrity, and as Secretary of State Hargett says, we are an easy state to vote in, but a hard one to cheat. I am determined to.”
The Heritage Foundation’s scorecard ranks all state and District of Columbia election laws according to how well they protect the integrity and security of the electoral process. Tennessee received perfect scores in categories related to voter ID implementation, vote collection restrictions, and vote counting methods.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton said, “Election integrity is not a partisan issue, and Tennessee has set national standards in protecting and maintaining elections. We have taken steps to make campaign finance more transparent, to maintain the accuracy and accuracy of all ballots and to preserve their legality.Secretary Hargett, Coordinator Goins, Lt. Thank you for your continued partnership.
The Tennessee Legislature has continually updated the state’s election laws to incorporate best practices for protecting the integrity of ballot boxes. While administering the election, the Secretary of State and her 95 county election officials in Tennessee have worked hard to ensure that every eligible voter’s vote counts only once for her. .
Secretary of State Tre Hargett said, “With our online voter registration system and generous early voting period, it’s easier than ever for Tennessees to register and vote to vote.” We have been able to do this without compromising election security because of the laws that have been enacted.In our great state, voters can trust our electoral process.”
Elections in Tennessee are local. In all 95 counties, county election officials and a bipartisan team of local citizens who serve as polling place officials operate polling places and tally election results. A bipartisan county board of elections oversees all elections. Tennessee law prohibits out-of-state pollsters and observers and strongly limits private funding of election administration.
Before every election, the nonpartisan county elections commission tests the voting machines. Voting machines are never connected to the Internet. In Tennessee, the totals voters see on Election Day are unofficial. Each county board of elections reviews the results of all elections before the election is certified.
Tennessee election law ensures that Tennessee’s voter rolls are accurate and that only eligible voters can cast their ballots. To keep your voter roll up to date, voters can easily update their voter registration at GoVoteTN.gov. The Office of the Secretary of State also maintains the voter rolls according to the list maintenance procedures. To ensure that only eligible voters can vote, Election Day registration is not permitted and Tennesseans must present a valid Tennessee or federal government-issued photo ID. Under Tennessee law, IDs issued by other states, private organizations, and college students’ IDs are not recognized.
In Tennessee, absentee-by-mail ballots are available only at the request of voters who meet one of 14 eligibility criteria. Ballots will be watermarked to prevent voter fraud by absentee mail, and election officials will match the signature on the envelope with the signature on file. Absent-by-mail ballots will not be opened until Election Day and will be counted by the local bipartisan tally commission.
“Every day, our office works with legislators and county elections officials statewide to ensure election laws protect the integrity of ballot boxes,” said election coordinator Mark Goins. I will.” “We are doing this because we want all Tennesseans to have confidence in our electoral system and to understand that voting is easy and cheating is hard in a volunteer state.”
For more information on election integrity and voting in Tennessee, visit GoVoteTN.gov or call the Elections Department toll-free at 1-877-850-4959.