Tennessee § 2-3-101 - Polling places — Designation — Relocation.

§ 2-3-101. Polling places — Designation — Relocation.

All elections shall be held in polling places designated by the county election commission. Each polling place shall be in the precinct it is to serve except for municipal elections not held in conjunction with: Any primary election; The regular August or November general elections; Any special primary or special general election for state or federal offices; or The presidential preference primary. Where a municipal election is not held in conjunction with an election specified in subdivision (a)(2)(A) and if a polling place is located outside of the boundaries of a municipality but the precinct the polling place serves includes residents of the municipality, the county election commission may designate a polling place outside, but closest to the geographic precinct within the limits of the municipality, of the precinct it is to serve. The county election commission may, upon request from a municipality, consolidate one (1) or more polling places, from one (1) or more precincts, within the limits of the municipality. Immediately after the consolidation of one (1) or more polling places, from one (1) or more precincts within the limits of the municipality, the county election commission shall publish a notice of the consolidation in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The county election commission shall mail to each active voter whose polling place is affected, a notice of the new polling place and the precinct number. The county election commission shall give written notification of the consolidation to the office of local government, comptroller of the treasury. If a county election commission determines that there is no place within a precinct which meets the requirements of this title for polling places, it shall designate the nearest available and suitable place no more than one half (½) mile from the precinct boundary as the polling place except in an emergency. If no accessible polling place is available within the precinct, or, within the one-half (½) mile limit outside the precinct, with the approval of the state coordinator of elections, the county election commission may designate a suitable place within three (3) miles. No polling place location may be changed within ten (10) days of an election except in an emergency. In any county having a metropolitan form of government and a population greater than one hundred thousand (100,000), according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, if space is available, no more than one (1) polling place for a precinct may be located in the same room. At least thirty (30) days before a polling place is relocated, the county election commission shall mail a notice of intent to relocate to the elected officials representing the affected area. Such notice of intent shall be mailed to the candidates before the time the voters are notified of the change as provided in § 2-3-105. The provisions of this subdivision (b)(2) shall only apply to any county having a metropolitan form of government and a population greater than one hundred thousand (100,000), according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a municipality is located within two (2) or more counties of the state, then the county election commissions of each respective county may, by written mutual agreement of the counties, designate one (1) polling place outside the boundaries of one (1) of the respective counties; provided, that the polling place is located within the limits of the municipality and within five hundred feet (500') of the county boundary line. Voters residing within the precinct are authorized to vote at the polling place established by the county election commissions in accordance with this subsection (c). Acts 1972, ch. 740, § 1; T.C.A., § 2-301; Acts 1989, ch. 78, §§ 1, 2; 1997, ch. 558, § 6; 2012, ch. 995, § 1; 2014, ch. 488, §§ 1, 2; 2014, ch. 697, § 1. Compiler's Notes. For tables of U.S. decennial populations of Tennessee counties, see Volume 13 and its supplement. Acts 2013, ch. 372, §§ 1, 2 purported to amend subsection (a) of this section. However, it was determined that Senate Bill No. 1320 and House Bill 1208, assigned as Public Chapter No. 372, did not pass both houses in the same form, as required by Tenn. Const., art. II, § 18 and, therefore, the act was not codified. The section set out above does not reflect the amendments by that act. Amendments. The 2014 amendment by ch. 488, in (a), redesignated the former introductory clause of (2) as present (2)(A), redesignated former (2)(B)-(D) as present (2)(A)(i)-(iv), rewrote and designated the continuation paragraph as present (2)(B), added (2)(C), and added “except in an emergency” at the end of the first sentence in (3). The 2014 amendment by ch. 697 added (c). Effective Dates. Acts 2014, ch. 488, § 3. February 13, 2014. Acts 2014, ch. 697, § 3. April 15, 2014. Cross-References. Boundaries of voting precincts, § 3-1-103 .