“Regardless of where you live in Tennessee, you should have a say in who represents you,” writes Tequila Johnson and Charlane Oliver.

The two proposals were introduced during council committee sessions but appear to have been discussed among council members prior to that. 

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City Council approves Southwind apartments, Liberty Park management contract, more

With all 26 sites open Monday, April 18, for the first time in the two-week period, more than 2,800 of the 3,900 early voters in the first four days of the period cast their ballots in the Democratic county primaries.

Turnout soared Saturday with six early voting locations open and Agricenter and Glenview Community Center as the top locations by turnout. All 26 sites, including the 20 sites that opened Monday are open through April 28. Election day is May 3.

The five sites that open Saturday are in addition to the one open since this past Wednesday at the Downtown Election Commission offices. Early voting in the county primaries expands Monday, April 18, to all 26 sites across the county and runs through April 28. Election day is May 3.

Thursday marked the withdrawal deadline for contenders in the August election, with several developments in the nonpartisan judicial races that are a major part of that ballot.

Incumbent Mayor Lee Harris wants to continue a sea change in what issues the county mayor focuses on. His challenger in the May Democratic primary, Ken Moody, says that focus isn’t immediate or local enough.

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Early voting starts slow at Election Commission offices

There are plans by several organizations to boost the turnout Thursday. Meanwhile, there is free parking around the only early-voting site Downtown open Wednesday and Thursday.

A pair of new faces have entered the race for Arlington Community Schools (ACS) board positions in the Aug. 4 town municipal elections.

Early voting for the Shelby County primaries is April 13-28. Here is everything to know the ballot, the basics of early voting and what turnout in this election cycle has looked like in the past.

The Democratic primary race for district attorney is about to turn from general calls for change to who can upset incumbent Republican Amy Weirich.

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Ballot basics: Early voting begins

The ruling on a motion Monday, April 11, means early voting in advance of the May 3 election day opens Wednesday at a single Downtown site. The other 25 early voting sites open the Monday after Easter Sunday.

Billy Orgel decided not to file the petition for re-election he pulledin February. That left Amber Huett-Garcia as the only candidate in the race and effectively elected to the District 6 MSCS board seat at the Thursday filing deadline. There were other surprises at the deadline in other races.

With some petitions still out ahead of the Thursday, April 7, noon deadline, there is a chance some contenders will have no opposition on the August ballot. Here’s a run down of the filing developments.

Steven Smith was previously chairman of the Arlington’s Cemetery Preservation Restoration Committee and serves as president of the town’s Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities.

Shelby County Commissioner Brandon Morrison defends her conservatism while opponent Jordan Carpenter targets what he calls “dangerous ideologies” and “perversion.”

Robert Griffin, a former Memphis in May official, joins a growing field of candidates seeking to replace Emily Elliott in Bartlett alderman Position 2.

April marks the deadline to register to vote in the May 3 elections, the filing deadline for the August ballot, and the start of early voting ahead of the May 3 election day.

The Memphis Branch NAACP, along with two other organizations, has filed a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission.

Jordan Hinders is challenging incumbent alderman Oscar Brooks for the Position 4 seat later this year.

There’s nothing wrong with a non-partisan mayor trying to curry favor with a member of either political party, particularly when his constituents elected him to do just that.

On The Daily Memphian’s On The Record Podcast, the three Democratic primary contenders for Shelby County District Attorney General discussed what happens in the prosecutor’s office on day one if they upset incumbent Amy Weirich in August.

Each of the three Democratic primary candidates for Shelby County District Attorney General pledge to make deep reforms in the prosecutor’s office.

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What change in the DA’s office could look like on first day

As some Democrats pledge to try to censure Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland for endorsing a Republican candidate for state Senate in the August primaries, local Republicans have their own internal differences.

With longtime Alderwoman Emily Elliott stepping down in June, Brandon Weise has announced he will seek her seat in the Nov. 8 municipal election.