Election Laws

Plain English Breakdown

The official summary does not provide details about changes in voter registration processes other than filing and purging records.

Election Reimbursement and Voter Registration Changes

This bill changes how county election commissions get reimbursed for primary elections and alters rules about voter registration records.

What This Bill Does

• Changes the way county election commissions are reimbursed for expenses during primary elections to match how they are reimbursed for presidential preference primaries, if funds have been set aside by the state.
• Removes the ability of election-related organizations to accept private funding unless it is approved by both chambers' leaders.
• Allows voter registration cards to be filed alphabetically or by date received.
• Requires administrators to record reasons for rejecting voter registrations and maintain these records in a public file.
• Changes how purged voter registration records are handled, requiring them to be kept publicly for at least two years.

Who It Names or Affects

• County election commissions
• Voters

Terms To Know

Reimbursement

Money given back to a person or organization for expenses they have paid.

Purged registration

A voter's record that has been removed from the list of active voters due to inactivity or other reasons.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how long it will take for changes to be implemented.
• It is unclear what specific impacts these changes might have on election processes and voter participation.
• The bill's effectiveness depends on the governor's decision after receiving it.

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 26, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1619, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, require reimbursements to county election commissions for primary elections be processed in the same manner as expenses for the presidential preference primary, for years in which the general assembly has appro
priated funds for the purpose of providing such reimbursements. Present law requires all expenses incurred by a county election commission or its members in connection with the presidential preference primary to be paid out of the state treasury upon the
c
ertification of the chair and secretary of the county election commission to the secretary of state.

PRIVATE FUNDING

Present law prohibits the state election commission, secretary of state, coordinator of elections, county election commission, or administrator of elections from accepting or expending any grant, gift, or funding from private persons, corporations, organ
izations, or political parties for conducting an election unless the expenditure is approved by the speakers of the senate and the house of representatives. This amendment eliminates the authorization to accept or expend such grants, gifts, or funding, r
eg
ardless of approval by the speakers of the senate and the house of representatives.

VOTER REGISTRATIONS

Present law requires an administrator of elections to file the original permanent registration card for a registered voter alphabetically in the master file of all registered voters in the county. This amendment authorizes such registration cards to be
filed alphabetically or by date in the order the registration card was received.

If an administrator of elections determines that a voting registrant is not entitled to be registered, then present law requires the administrator to tell the registrant the reason for the rejection, write the reason on the back of the original permanent
registration record, and file the original and duplicate alphabetically in a binder of rejected registrations. This amendment, instead, requires an administrator of elections to tell the registrant the reason for rejection, record the reason for such re
je
ction, and file the rejected registration.

Present law requires an administrator of elections, upon receiving notice that a registrant has registered to vote in a new county, to immediately attach the notice to the permanent registration records of the voter. Further, when a voter requests cance
llation of registration, or the voter's registration is purged, the administrator of elections must cancel the registration by notating such cancellation on the permanent registration record of the voter. The file of purged registrations must be retained
b
y the county election commission for two years. If a voter with a purged record has an outstanding ballot, then it must be marked "Rejected" upon receipt.

This amendment removes the provisions described in the prior paragraph and, instead, requires an administrator of elections to place the permanent registration records of a voter that is required to be purged in a file of purged records, which is a publi
c record. Such a file must be maintained for at least two years. The administrator must record the reason for the purge in the voter registration system and maintain any associated reports or other records supporting the purge until the purge record is
de
stroyed. If a voter with a purged registration has an outstanding or uncounted ballot, then it must be marked as "Rejected."

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 1669
By Rudd

SENATE BILL 1619
By Briggs
SB1619
010343
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2,
relative to elections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-1-114, is amended by deleting the
language "within thirty (30) days after they are adopted" in subdivision (2) and substituting
instead the language "within fifteen (15) days after they are adopted".
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.