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Bill Dries covers city government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
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The number of requests are more than in the August election but not as many as anticipated. Applications can be made online and are due by the end of the business day at the election commission. Completed absentee ballots are due at the election commission by the time the Election Day polls close at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 and cannot be hand-delivered.
Here are a few changes in how elections are conducted in Memphis, close elections and even a belated admission that a pivotal mayor’s race was rigged. Related story: Presidential campaigns have distinctly Memphis flavor
Tennessee may not be a battleground state in the presidential general election, but the absence of the Trump or Biden national campaigns in Memphis leaves a race for president on uniquely local terms. Related story: A local history of tumult and change at the polls
The commission will vote Oct. 26 on setting new parameters for the spring budget season. And the county’s CFO says it could be dangerous to lower the percentage of reserves on hand.
The founder of one of the get out the vote groups working locally says on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that higher turnout is part of a national trend. But detailed numbers also show ongoing problems in access to the vote.
The mayor says taking bids from possible rivals to TVA should include transmission costs to get the cost estimates needed to make a decision about MLGW leaving the federal agency.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland also said on the WKNO program “Behind The Headlines” that police reform still means hiring more officers.
The federal lawsuit claimed the city interfered with Graceland’s plans for a Whitehaven arena.
Thursday marks one week to the end of early voting in the presidential general election. While turnout has slipped a bit after the weekend, it is still ahead of the early voting count at this point for the three previous elections in the cycle.
The violent crime task force is forming as Police Director Michael Rallings told City Council members Tuesday that more officers means less crime. The city has already this year set a record for the number of annual homicides.
The Memphis City Council is considering dropping the city residency requirement for business owners seeking COVID-related grants who live outside Memphis but have businesses inside the city.
Developers of a $180 million commercial mixed-use tower of hotel rooms and condos on the western edge of the Pinch District encountered some skepticism as they pitched the project to the Memphis City Council.
For two weeks, the state’s Emergency Management agency has been walking local leaders, including law enforcement, through such election surprises as voter intimidation, disruptions and even civil disorder in the event no one concedes in the contentious presidential race atop the ballot.
The Tuesday city council session will also include a call for more information about the percentage of city contracts that minority-owned businesses get.
The total is inexact but ahead of the pace for early voting in the last three presidential elections in Shelby County. Data includes details of who the early voters and absentee voters are and a batch of new voters registered in recent months.
The firing was confirmed by an election commission spokesperson after state Rep. Antonio Parkinson posted about the change in personnel Sunday on social media.
Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips, on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast, says the unofficial vote count may be tallied by midnight Nov. 3. But counting absentee ballots is a complex process.
The ruling is in one of five federal court challenges to state laws governing Tennessee’s absentee ballot process underway as absentee voters are completing their ballots and mailing them back to election commissions across the state.
The County Commission Scorecard tracks the final stand of a set of four police reforms applying to county law enforcement and what may be the last stand of the $5.8 million contract to buy a new voting system for the county.
Former Memphis City Council member Harold Collins and Just City Director Josh Spickler said on “Behind The Headlines” that for all of the talk of changing police, MPD is still policing the way it has for decades.
Voters lined up before the doors opened Wednesday at 26 early-voting sites across Shelby County and kept coming through the morning. Early voting continues through Oct. 29. Election Day is Nov. 3. Related Story: Ballot Basics: Voting Absentee and Lessons from August
Here are the basics of the absentee ballot process -- applying for a ballot and what to do when you get it. We also outline some important lessons about the process learned in the August elections.
A member of Lee’s security detail tested positive Wednesday after saying he did not feel well. An online statement from the governor’s office says Lee has tested negative for the virus but is quarantining “out of an abundance of caution.” Lee said later he continues to serve from quarantine. The First Lady was to be tested later Wednesday.
The contract stirred the political embers of a recent budget season in county government as well as some spirited debate among commissioners about mask requirements.
The chairs of the two local parties say interest is high in the election and they anticipate a higher turnout than four years ago, starting with early voting. Related Stories: