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Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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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:
Here is what you need to know about voting early in the presidential general election in Shelby County, from voting locations to how to know what races will be on your specific ballot.
The commission is now processing absentee applications as they come in. The deadline to request the mail-in ballots is Oct. 27.
A $5.8 million contract for a new voting system in Shelby County failed Monday, Oct. 12, in a 6-5 vote by the Shelby County Commission.
Shelby County commissioners voted down an ordinance that would have required the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to decertify deputies who use excessive force and to keep a record of officers who are fired or resign because of an excessive-force complaint.
The opening of hearings on the U.S. Supreme Court nominee included Democrats criticizing the timing of the nomination. Blackburn responded by calling the attacks on the process and Barrett as “paternalistic” and “disrespectful.”
The Monday County Commission agenda also includes a return to a $5.8 million contract to buy a new voting system for Shelby County and a moratorium on delinquent tax sales on property in South Memphis.
Memphis City Council member Jeff Warren on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast says there could still be an agreement on the next step in the MLGW-TVA issue. He also warns that the Tennessee Legislature could close the door on a possible MLGW exit from TVA if there isn’t a shorter timeline.
Germantown Municipal Schools District Superintendent Jason Manuel and Bartlett City Schools Superintendent David Stephens talked on “Behind The Headlines” about changing local health department requirements that require students in schools to wear masks and be 6 feet apart at all times.
The Election Commission is getting 500 requests a day for the mail-in ballots in Shelby County ahead of the Nov. 3 election day.
Attorneys for the utility board warned against a joint meeting with City Council members the day after the council rejected a contract to move ahead with a look at replacing TVA as MLGW’s electric power supplier.
Here is how the city council voted Tuesday on the GDS contract — a critical juncture in considering whether MLGW should leave TVA. And a few possible next moves including MLGW doing the consulting work in house or a move to reconsider at the council in two weeks.
Memphis City Council members have rejected a Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division contract with a power industry consultant to explore what it would take for the utility to leave the Tennessee Valley Authority. The vote stops the two-year old process, at least for now. The MLGW board could have a response Wednesday morning at its regular meeting.
The resolution approved Tuesday by the Memphis City Council for two areas along Summer is designed to make it more difficult to demolish a set of four churches for other kinds of development. It’s similar to a recent rezoning of part of Lamar Avenue but with a slightly different motivation.
The council discussion of the record number of homicides so far this year could venture into past discussions of police reform. The City Council also discusses a rezoning of Summer Avenue to preserve four churches along the busy thoroughfare after one was about to be demolished.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton talked about his plan to strip away the autonomy of the Shelby County Health Department during a visit Monday to the county. He says public health officials should advise mayors, who would make the ultimate decision on pandemic and other health-related measures.
The first absentee ballots will be in the mail to Shelby County voters Wednesday, Oct. 7, according to the Shelby County Election Commission.