Important Information for First-time Voters about Voting Absentee By Mail
With three elections in 2024, including the March 5, 2024 Presidential Preference Primary/Knox County Primary, many Knox Countians will be voting for the first time in 2024, particularly college students who attend a college or university outside of Knox County.
Per Tennessee law, unless a prospective first-time voter is on the permanent absentee voting register or is enrolled in the Safe at Home program, a voter must appear in person to vote in their first election if he/she has registered by mail or online at GoVoteTN.gov.
For newly registered voters such as students who attend college outside of Knox County, the Knox County Election Commission recommends that any registered Knox County voter who attends school out of county and has not yet voted in person come into either of our offices over the holiday break and present their photo ID issued by the State of Tennessee or the federal government (driver’s license and passport are the two most common forms of acceptable photo ID).
Upon presentation of this, the Election Commission can convert a by mail registration to an in-person registration. This allows a voter who attends school at an institution outside of Knox County to request an absentee by mail ballot and cast that ballot by mail.
The Knox County Election Commission’s offices are:
Knox County Election Commission – Main office (mailing address)
300 Main Street, Room 229
Knoxville, TN 37902
Knox County Election Commission – West office
109 Lovell Heights Road
Knoxville, TN 37922
For individuals that have not yet registered to vote in Knox County, the deadline to register to vote for the March 5, 2024 Primary is Monday, February 5, 2024.
To check your registration and confirm that you are registered to vote, visit https://tnmap.tn.gov/voterlookup/
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Tuesday, February 27, 2024. The Election Commission strongly recommends that voters request an absentee by mail ballot early in January, and well before the February 27 deadline.
Anyone wishing to vote absentee can call the Election Commission at 865-215-2480 or can download an absentee request at www.knoxvotes.org.
