Early voting in the presidential primary will take place from Feb. 12-25 and some changes have been made to polling locations in South Tipton County.
Voting will no longer take place at Munford City Hall. Early voting will now take place at First Baptist Atoka (102 Kimbrough Drive, Atoka) and election day’s polling location will be Munford Baptist Church’s Family Life Center (1253 Munford Avenue, Munford).
“Munford City Hall was fabulous, they were good to us,” Tipton County Administrator of Elections Cindy Pinner said. “They took really good care of us, but they have a lot going on, they’re busy with court and meetings. (At the church) we can have more room, there’s more parking and we can have it secluded for just us and we’ll have a wide open space. At Munford, if it was cold or rainy and it was busy, like during a presidential race, people would have to stand outside if there were a lot of people. It just couldn’t accommodate everybody. At the church there is a huge, long corridor to go down before you get to the voting area, so you’ll be inside, out of the elements.”
Covington’s early voting location is still the Tipton County Election Commission office, located at 113 East Church Avenue.
“Interest is high as voters prepare to select leaders across all levels of government for the November ballot,” said Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett. “Voters can take advantage of early voting since it offers voters the opportunities to find a convenient time and location to cast their ballots.”
Polls in Tipton County will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
Pinner is also excited about electronic poll books on election day, which she said will make the process more efficient.
Who’s on the ballot?
Though the Super Tuesday primary will likely have a large turnout because of the presidential race, it will be quieter on the local front.
“We also have the county Republican primary, but we have no candidates,” said Pinner.
This doesn’t mean there will be no one on the ballot, it simply means the persons running for the county offices in the primary – assessor of property and constables in districts 5 and 7 – will not be running as Republicans or Democrats.
“Rose (Cousar) has picked up her petition and will be running in August, but no one put in for constable,” she said.
The only other county general offices on the ballot this year are the odd-numbered school board districts.
Feb. 3 was the first day to pick up petitions for these offices and is also the last day to register to vote in the March 3 primary.
Who qualifies to run?
The state has a list of qualifications for each office. Each candidate must meet the basic qualification set forth in TCA 8-18-101, which includes things like not being a convicted felon, having a judgment against them for money owed to the government, enlisted in the military or holding office in a foreign country.
Assessors of property must live in the county they represent and cannot hold office with the county commission.
Constables must be 21 years old, a qualified voter, have a high school diploma or GED, have no felony convictions or a discharge from the military that is other than honorable.
The qualifying deadline is April 12.
Odd-numbered school board districts are also on the ballot for the Aug. 6 election, and it will be the primary for the District 81 state representative, District 32 state senate and District 8 U.S. representative races.
Municipal elections, and the presidential election, will take place on Nov. 3.
For more information, see https://www.tiptonco.com/election_commission/index.php.
Author: Echo Day
Echo Day is an award-winning journalist, photographer and designer. She is currently The Leader's managing editor.
