If you need to vote absentee in Shelby County for the upcoming Nov. 3 elections, the window to request your absentee ballot is closing.
The upcoming elections have a number of important races on the ballot for Memphis and Shelby County voters, ranging from Tennessee governor and Tennessee's three recently redrawn congressional districts
to three proposed amendments to the Memphis City Charter and numerous mayoral, alderman and school board races in the Shelby County suburbs.Registered voters who meet certain parameters that make them unable to vote either during the early voting period, which runs until Oct. 29, or on Election Day can request an absentee ballot. But the deadline to do so is Oct. 24.
Here's what to know if you still need to request
an absentee ballot.
What is the deadline to request an absentee ballot?
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 24.
The Shelby County Election Commission will accept emailed requests for absentee ballots to absenteevoting@shelbycountytn.gov, or mailed requests to the Shelby County Election Commission, PO Box 342798, Bartlett, TN 38184-2798.
When requesting an absentee ballot, you have to specify why you need to vote absentee rather than voting in person during early voting or on Election Day in order to receive an absentee ballot.
What is the deadline for submitting an absentee ballot?
Absentee ballots will be accepted until 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. Any ballot received after 7 p.m. on Election Day will be rejected.
Once you receive it, you must fill out your absentee ballot and mail the ballot back to the Shelby County Election Commission.
Voters cannot hand-deliver or email their absentee ballot to the election commission; they must mail it.
To send the completed absentee ballot back to the Shelby County Election Commission, you will mail it to the Shelby County Election Commission, PO Box 342798, Bartlett, TN 38184-2798.
Who qualifies to vote absentee in Tennessee?
If you plan to vote absentee in Tennessee, you have to meet one of these requirements:
- You will be outside Shelby County during the entire early voting period and all day on Election Day;
- You or your spouse is enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited college or university outside Shelby County;
- You reside in a licensed nursing home outside Shelby County;
- You will be unable to vote in person due to serving as a juror for a federal or state court;
- You are 60 or older;
- You have a physical disability and an inaccessible polling location;
- You are hospitalized, ill or physically disabled and unable to appear at your polling place to vote. A physician’s statement is not required to check this box;
- You are the caretaker of a person who is hospitalized, ill, or disabled. A physician’s statement is not required to check this box;
- You are a candidate for office in the election;
- You serve as an Election Day official or as an employee of the Shelby County Election Commission;
- Your observance of a religious holiday prevents you from voting in person during the early voting period and on election day;
- You or your spouse possesses a valid commercial driver’s license, or you possess a valid Transportation Worker Identification Credential card, and certify that you will be working outside Tennessee or Shelby County during the open hours of early voting and election day, and have no specific out-of-county or out-of-state address to which mail may be sent or received during such time; or
- You are a member of the military or are an overseas citizen. You can learn more about military and overseas citizen absentee voting on the Federal Voting Assistance Program website.
Visit the Shelby County Election Commission's website for more information about absentee voting.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Need to vote absentee in Shelby County? Deadline for Nov. 3 elections is soon
