Putnam County voters could spend more time than usual casting their votes this November, with three lengthy, proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot.
Administrator of Elections Jennifer Murphy said the office is approximately 95 percent prepared for the upcoming election after Friday’s meeting, with nearly all supply bags ready for distribution.
“It’s a nine-page ballot on the machine and these amendments are over half of those pages,” Murphy said. “So it would be very beneficial for every voter to study the sample ballot before they come.”
Murphy said the commission will not interpret the proposals for voters, with individuals responsible for reading the text and reaching their own conclusions.
“If you wait until you stand here at the ballot box, you’re going to be standing there a while trying to figure out what it says,” Commission Chairman Michael Detwiler said.
The commission also approved poll workers and inspected voting machines for early voting and Election Day. As part of that process, officials checked the security tags on the equipment against the numbers recorded in the county system.
“We went through each machine, one Republican, one Democrat, and we verified that those security tags were the numbers that were recorded,” Detwiler said.
Murphy said appointed technicians had previously tested the machines, including each button and ballot, to make sure the equipment was properly calibrated. Green seals were placed on the exterior of the machines after testing was completed.
The deadline to register for the November 3 election is Monday, October 5. The Election Commission office will remain open until 4pm for in-person registration, while online registration remains available until midnight.
“Any forms that are mailed to us, if they are postmarked by October 5th, they are still going to be accepted,” Murphy said. “And then if somebody doesn’t make it to our office by 4pm on October 5th, they can still register online up until midnight and we would be able to accept their form to get them registered to vote.”
Early voting begins Wednesday, October 14 and continues through October 29 at 705 County Services Drive in Cookeville. Murphy said voters must present a federal or Tennessee-issued photo identification to cast a ballot.
