<BillNo> <Sponsor>
SENATE BILL 123
By Lowe
SB0123
001437
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AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2,
relative to political party affiliation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-116, is amended by adding the
following new language on the permanent registration record when a person registers to vote:
13. Statewide Political Party or Recognized Minor Party Affiliation ___________
Notice: A voter choosing not to select a statewide political party or recognized
minor party affiliation is deemed to be an independent and is not eligible to vote in a
primary election.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 7, is amended by adding the
following language as a new section:
2-7-144.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (c), a qualified voter who has not declared
a political party affiliation shall declare a statewide political party or recognized minor
party affiliation at the first primary election in which the person casts a vote after the
effective date of this act. The county election commission shall then add that information
to the voter's permanent registration record.
(b) A registered voter affiliated with a political party who chooses to declare a
different statewide political party or recognized minor party affiliation prior to a primary
election may only do so more than thirty (30) days prior to the election.
(c) New and existing registered voters who have not declared a political party
affiliation in accordance with this section prior to the primary election in August of 2026,
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must be deemed to be independent voters, and the respective county election
commission shall then add that information to the voters' permanent registration record.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-7-115, is amended by deleting
subsection (b) and substituting instead the following:
(b) A registered voter may vote in a primary election for offices for which the
voter is qualified to vote at the polling place where the voter is registered:
(1) If the voter is registered as being affiliated with that political party; or
(2) If the primary election is the first primary election the voter has
participated in after the effective date of this act and the voter declares allegiance
to that political party. The party affiliation declared by the voter must then be
added to the voter's permanent registration record.
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-112(b), is amended by adding
the following new subdivision (3) and redesignating the existing subdivision (3) as subdivision
(4):
(3) Affiliate with, or change a registered voter's affiliation with, a statewide
political party or recognized minor party. Except for voters affiliating with a political party
at a primary election in accordance with ยง 2-7-144, affiliation or change in affiliation with
a statewide political party or recognized minor party may only be accepted and
processed more than thirty (30) days before the next primary election in the jurisdiction
in which the voter resides; and
SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.