TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

House Passes Bill to Alter Knoxville Voting

Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Mar 10, 2023

A bill moving through the legislature would change how Knoxville voters elect city council members. Currently, when voters head to the polls during city primary elections, they are allowed to vote for candidates only in their district. During the city general elections, however, Knoxville voters are able to vote for candidates in all districts. The bill, HB 0817, was introduced by Rep. Elaine Davis, R-Knoxville. It would delete a section from the Tennessee code that created the voting rule exemptions for cities and counties of specific sizes (currently Knoxville and Morristown are the only two cities that utilize the exemption). Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, voted against the bill. She said she believes it would cause more confusion surrounding local elections, saying many people in her district, which includes Knoxville, have spent decades voting in city elections every two years and would need to change their voting habits. WBIR Channel 10 News in Knoxville has the story.

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