VOTING BY MILITARY PERSONNEL,

THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS, and

OVERSEAS CITIZENS

I.                     Individuals Eligible to Vote Absentee By-Mail under T.C.A. § 2-6-502

A.                Determination of Residency- T.C.A. § 2-2-122 - Military personnel and their family members must register based upon where they have, or have had, physical presence and the simultaneous intent to remain or return.

B.                Military Personnel:  Persons who are United States citizens, residents of Tennessee and members of the Uniformed Services (i.e. armed forces personnel), and their family members.

1.      Armed forces personnel is defined in T.C.A. § 2-1-104(1) as members of the army, navy, air force, marine corps, coast guard, environmental science service administration, and public health service of the United States or members of the merchant marine of the United States, and their spouses and dependents.

C.                Civilians Outside of U.S.:  Persons who are United States citizens, residents of Tennessee, and who are currently residing overseas.

1.      Overseas Citizen:  A United States citizen who resides outside the U.S. and but for living outside the U.S. would be qualified to vote in Tennessee.

2.      Persons Born Overseas:  A person who has never lived in the U.S. but has a parent who is eligible to vote in Tennessee may vote in Tennessee in the same voting residence that could be claimed by the parent.

II.                   The Process for Registering to Vote Temporarily and Requesting an Absentee Ballot

A.                What type of form is required?

An application for ballot and/or a temporary registration may be received in any form, including a Federal Post Card Application, also known as a “Form 76 or FPCA” (herein Form 76). 

B.                What is required on the request?

In order to be processed, T.C.A. § 2-6-502(b) requires the following information: 

1.      Applicant’s name;

2.      Applicant’s date of birth;

3.      Applicant’s residential address in the county in which he/she proposes to vote;

4.      Address to which to mail the ballot;

5.      If the election is a primary election, the applicant’s political party preference; and

6.      The application must be signed under the penalty of perjury, thereby verifying all the information on the same is true and correct and that the voter is eligible to vote in the election.

C.                How may the form be accepted?

The form may be received either by mail or facsimile.  An application may be received by facsimile only if the election commission office has a fax machine physically located in its office.  A county election commission office is not required to have a facsimile in its office.  T.C.A. § 2-6-202(a) (3) and (4).  The form may not be received by email because there is no provision in the election code for email acceptance.

D.                How is the application treated?

If the applicant is not already a registered voter, an application for an absentee ballot pursuant to T.C.A § 2-6-502 shall be treated as an application for temporary registration. 

Registration under this section is not subject to the thirty (30) day cut-off deadline set in T.C.A. §2-2-109.  The applicant will be allowed to register in the election for which the request was made up until the seventh (7^th) day before the election.  (See T.C.A. § 2-6-502(c))  [5^th day became 7^th day in 2007 legislation]

If the applicant is registering temporarily, the applicant’s application shall be placed in alphabetical order in the absentee voting binder of duplicate permanent registration records of absentee voters for the applicant’s polling place, and a notation shall be placed in the binder of absentee voting applications that the applicant had applied to vote absentee by mail.

E.                What effect does the application have on future election ballots for the voter?

1.      The Form 76 states “I request absentee ballots for all elections in which I am eligible to vote.” 

2.      If the applicant fails to state a primary choice, then only a general ballot is sent.

3.      Ballots shall be provided to the applicant for each subsequent election for Federal office in the State through the next two November general elections.  (HAVA Amendment effective January 1, 2004.)

4.      However, it is the responsibility of the applicant to inform the election office if his or her address changes between the elections and to provide that information to the election office.

5.      Once an absentee ballot has been issued, the voter must vote by mail.  T.C.A. §2-6-301(a)

III.                  Time Periods to Apply for an Absentee Ballot for Military Personnel -
T.C.A. §2-6-502(c)

A.                When is the earliest a person may apply?

No earlier than January 1 of the year in which the election is to be held; unless the election is to be held less than ninety (90) days after January 1 of the calendar year.  In that case, the application may be received not earlier than ninety (90) days before the election.

B.                When is the latest a person may apply?

Not later than seven (7) days before the election. [Changed in 2007 law]

C.                Caveat:  If you receive an application for ballot that does not provide all of the required information, the application serves as a request for an application for ballot and the deadline is the seven (7) days before the election. 

IV.               Sending an Absentee Ballot - T.C.A § 2-6-503(a)

A.                45 Day Deadline - Not later than forty-five (45) days before the election, either a special write-in ballot or an official absentee ballot shall be sent to the military personnel who applied for a ballot.

B.                Tennessee does not allow the county election commission to send or receive the absentee ballot by fax or by email.

C.                If the election commission mails a special write-in ballot, then the election commission must include with the special write-in ballot a complete list of all candidates who qualified for the offices on the ballot.

D.                The ballot must be substantially identical to an official absentee ballot.

E.                The above requirement of forty-five (45) days does not apply to municipal elections, special elections, or an election on a question if the appropriate qualifying or filing deadline does not reasonably allow compliance.  However, the ballot must be sent no later than thirty (30) days before the election.

V.                 Receiving an Absentee Ballot from the Applicant

A.                Voted ballots must be received by mail by the close of the polls on election day.

B.                Tennessee does not allow a ballot to be returned by fax or the internet via email.

C.                The Federal Write-In Ballot may be used in general elections for federal offices under three conditions.  A citizen must be:

1.       Located outside the United States, including APO and FPO addresses;

2.       Must have applied for a regular ballot early enough so that the appropriate local election official receives the request (i.e., a Form 76 or a request under penalty of perjury) at least 7 days before the election; and

3.       Not have received the requested regular absentee ballot from the state.

D.                The voted ballot must be received by the local election office no later than the close of the polls on election day.  If both the federal write-in ballot and the official absentee ballot are received by the close of the polls, the county election commission must count only the official ballot that it provided to the voter and reject the federal write-in ballot.

E.                Generally, ballots do not have to be notarized or witnessed.  However, if an applicant requires assistance, then one person must witness the assistance given during the completion of the form.

F.                 For purposes of reporting absentee voters on the Absentee Certification, the county election commission will count a Form 76, or a letter stating that the person is a military voter, as a military/overseas voter.

VI.               Permanently Registered and Requesting an Absentee Ballot 

A.                By-Mail Registration:

1.      T.C.A. §2-2-115(b)(7) requires by-mail registrants to vote in person the first time.  However, military/overseas citizens, and persons born abroad may vote according to the process described above.

2.      Military:  Once the person returns to his/her county or is no longer enlisted in the military, then the individual must vote in person at the next election in order to meet the requirement set out in
T.C.A. §2-2-115 (b)(7).

3.      Overseas Citizens:  Once the person returns to the United States, then the individual must vote in person at the next election in order to meet the requirement set out in T.C.A. §2-2-115 (b)(7).

B.                In Person Registration:

1.      The person may vote like any other registered voter who is outside the county during early voting and on Election Day pursuant to
T.C.A. § 2-6-202.

2.      The person may also submit a Form 76.