There are 248 article(s) tagged Shelby County Election Commission:

• April 2020

  • Politics Podcast: Secret bids, legal opinions and new voting machines

    Shelby County election commissioners Brent Taylor and Bennie Smith talk about the complex path to making a decision on new voting machines.

    By Bill Dries April 11, 2020

  • Path to new voting machines still complex, secretive

    Two Shelby County Election Commissioners say on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast that the method being discussed for making the choice on new voting machines would keep the price of the machines a secret until the decision is made because of legal opinions.

    By Bill Dries April 11, 2020

  • Election Commission waits to set August ballot until possible appeals

    The withdrawal deadline for the Aug. 6 ballot passed Thursday with several withdrawals from races on the Shelby County ballot. But much of the attention is on the decision the day before by the Tennessee Democratic Party to remove four contenders from the party primaries in Shelby County.

    By Bill Dries April 09, 2020

• March 2020

  • Election Commission to hold special meeting Wednesday on new voting machines

    Shelby County Election Commissioners will meet electronically Wednesday, April 1, to discuss a new voting system for county elections.

    By Bill Dries March 27, 2020

  • Minor changes mark Super Tuesday certification by Election Commission

    None of the changes in vote totals affect the outcome of the Super Tuesday presidential primaries and countywide primaries for General Sessions Court Clerk in Shelby County. The meeting is one of the last in-person deliberations by a public body as elected bodies move to online or conference call public meetings.

    By Bill Dries March 23, 2020

  • ‘Complex’ process ahead for new voting machines

    Shelby County elections administrator Linda Phillips says her goal is still to have a new voting system in place when early voting begins July 17 in advance of the Aug. 6 election day.

    By Bill Dries March 14, 2020

  • August ballot races start to fill out

    With three weeks to the filing deadline, some incumbent state legislators still haven't pulled their petitions to seek new terms in Nashville and a few of those races are filling up with potential challengers.

    By Bill Dries March 12, 2020

• February 2020

  • Sanford: Voting is serious. Just ask 105-year-old Charlotte Robertson

    Election commission records show Robertson has participated in every presidential election going back to the 1970s – and no doubt long before that. And she rarely misses a Memphis municipal, county or state election, including primaries.

    By Otis Sanford February 27, 2020

  • Shelby County early vote tops 21,000 with two days to go

    The total is ahead of the early vote at this point four years ago but the difference narrowed over the weekend. And Davidson County leads the state's 95 counties in turnout through Saturday.

    By Bill Dries February 24, 2020

  • County attorney: Funding for new voting machines only through referendum

    The Shelby County Commission will have to hold a public referendum if it wants to use capital funding for new voting machines, according to commission attorney Marcy Ingram.

    By Omer Yusuf February 11, 2020

• January 2020

  • Shelby County needs cheap, secure hand-marked paper ballots

    You can’t hack a flesh-and-blood voter marking his own ballot. 

    By Joe Towns, Marlene Strube January 27, 2020

  • Sixth Circuit affirms dismissal of voting machine lawsuit

    A federal appeals court has agreed with a Memphis federal court decision tossing out a case seeking to do away with the touchscreen voting machines used in Shelby County elections.

    By Bill Dries January 24, 2020

  • New Shelby election machinery debate heightens fraud claims on all sides

    Shelby County Commissioner Michael Whaley may have framed the debate on a new voting system that is about to land at the county building.

    By Bill Dries January 22, 2020

• December 2019

  • Harris’ legislative agenda includes driver’s license reinstatement

    Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris wants to help the state reinstate driver’s licenses, a huge criminal justice issue for about 100,000 county residents.

    By Linda A. Moore December 23, 2019

• November 2019

  • Ballot Basics: The Last Election Day of 2019

    Here is everything you need to know about participating in the last election day of 2019 – the dos and don'ts, what to expect and what's next.

    By Bill Dries November 13, 2019

  • Runoff early voting tops 2,100 in council Districts 1 and 7

    Most of the early vote in the two Memphis City Council runoff races was in the District 7 matchup between incumbent Berlin Boyd and challenger Michalyn Easter-Thomas.

    By Bill Dries November 11, 2019

• October 2019

  • Early voting expands to five sites in council districts 1 and 7

    The five early voting sites opening Friday join a single early voting site Downtown that was open for the first week of the voting period. 

    By Bill Dries October 31, 2019

  • Election Commission to draft policy on early voting hours for future elections

    The Election Commission considered changing the hours for early voting to open all six sites in the city council runoff races ahead of Friday. But the commission decided instead to set a policy on the issue in future elections. 

    By Bill Dries October 30, 2019

  • Democratic county commissioners complain about early voting sites, hours

    A letter from eight commissioners is the latest entry in a long-running debate about voting locations. Through Monday, Oct. 28, 84 early votes had been cast in the two council district contests. Early voting continues through Nov. 9 and election day in Districts 1 and 7 is Nov. 14.

    By Bill Dries October 29, 2019

  • Last-minute bump in registrations for runoff elections adds to crunch of activity

    The Shelby County Election Commission is working to add voters to the rolls in time for the Nov. 14 runoff elections as the result of a last-minute bump in online registration thanks to a national Facebook effort.

    By Bill Dries October 22, 2019

  • October Memphis elections go in the books with tweaks to the vote totals

    None of the new vote totals in the certified and audited count changed the outcome of any races for 18 offices and a sales tax hike referendum. Most of the additional votes appeared to be the result of provisional ballots counted after the Oct. 3 election night.

    By Bill Dries October 21, 2019

  • Campaign finance reports: 6-digit dollar figures in mayor, council races

    The third quarter campaign finance reports show the campaign for a city sales tax hike raised more money than any candidate on the Oct. 3 ballot. The campaign was second only to Mayor Jim Strickland in spending. The reports cover the critical run-up to the city elections, including the first part of the early voting period.

    By Bill Dries October 17, 2019

  • Election commissioner talks paper ballots for future elections

    Shelby County Election Commissioner Bennie Smith says hand-marked paper ballots are a better alternative than the paper audit trail systems the commission explored a year ago. He also talked about low voter turnout on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast.

    By Bill Dries October 05, 2019

  • Campaigns move to city election day as voters decide

    As Memphis voters put to rest another season of campaigns for a place at City Hall, there are several last-minute dramas unfolding in a city where election night is the same night as Memphis Madness.

    By Bill Dries October 03, 2019

• September 2019

  • More than three-quarters of early voters were over age 50

    The data released Sunday also shows three early voters separated the city's top two early voting sites — one that drew a predominantly African American turnout, the other that drew a predominantly white turnout.

    By Bill Dries September 30, 2019