Early voting for Tennessee’s November 3 general election begins Wednesday, giving voters a chance to cast ballots before Election Day in races for governor, the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Tennessee General Assembly.
The November 3 general election will include contests for governor and the state’s U.S. Senate seat currently held by U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), along with all nine of Tennessee’s U.S. House seats.
Voters will also decide races for all 99 seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives and the odd-numbered districts of the State Senate.
In addition to candidate races, Tennessee voters will consider three proposed constitutional amendments addressing pretrial bail, state property taxation, and crime victims’ rights.
The first amendment would allow courts to deny bail before trial in certain serious criminal cases, including capital offenses, terrorism, second-degree murder, and specified sexual offenses. It would also require judges or magistrates to state their reasons on the record when granting or denying bail in those cases.
The second amendment would prohibit the General Assembly from imposing or authorizing a state tax on real, personal, or mixed property.
The third proposal, known as Marsy’s Law, would expand constitutional protections for crime victims, including rights to fair treatment, notification of court proceedings and an offender’s release, participation in criminal proceedings, restitution, and a speedy resolution of cases.
Each amendment will appear as a separate yes-or-no question on the ballot. For an amendment to become part of the Tennessee Constitution, it must receive more yes votes than no votes and more yes votes than one-half of all votes cast for governor.
The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office has published the ballot questions, summaries, and full proposed amendment language on its website to help voters review the measures before casting their ballots.
Early voting runs through Thursday, October 29. The last day to request an absentee ballot is Saturday, October 24.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Vote Here Sign” by Lorie Shaull. CC BY 4.0.
