Voter Information
Registering to Vote
Print the application found below to register or update your voter registration information. Voter registration forms for new registrations, including changing your address from one county to another, must be hand-delivered or mailed to the Election Commission. These forms cannot be accepted by fax. Our office is located at 465 Main Street, Savannah, TN. Other places that you can register to vote in person include the following locations:
- Department of Safety
- Driver's License Office
- Department of Human Services
- Health Department
- Public libraries
- register of deeds
- county clerk
- Armed Forces Recruiting Offices
- All post offices
- all public high schools
Registration Requirements
To register to vote in Hardin County, you must meet the following criteria:
- Be a U.S. Citizen
- Be a resident of Hardin County, TN
- Be at least 18 years old on or before the next election
- Not have been convicted of a felony or had your rights restored
The last day to register to vote is 30 days before the election. Do not count election day as one of the 30 days.
Felony Convictions/Restoration of Voting Rights
Article 4, §2 of the Tennessee Constitution provides that the Tennessee legislature may deny the right to vote to persons convicted of "infamous" crimes. Pursuant to this provision in the Tennessee Constitution, the Tennessee legislature has excluded individuals convicted of various felonies from the right of suffrage. However, the legislature has also established conditions and procedures through which individuals who have lost their voting rights may regain them. The manner in which a person may restore a lost voting right depends upon the crime committed and the year in which the conviction occurred. If your conviction has been expunged, you should answer, ‘No,’ on the voter registration form when asked if you have a felony conviction.
Type of crime that forfeits right to vote: all felonies
Conditions under Which Person May Be Eligible for Restoration of Voting Rights:
Early Voting
Early Voting begins twenty (20) days and ends five (5) days before each election. Early Voting is conducted at 465 Main Street, Savannah, TN.
No reason is needed to vote early.
If needed, the voter may change his/her address or name while voting early. Inactive voters can also be reactivated. We strongly encourage candidates and their workers, who may encounter a voter who needs to change his/her name or address, to do so prior to the deadline to register or at the latest, during early voting.
Voters need to bring some form of identification with them. The voter’s registration card is our first choice because it has the voter’s number on it and speeds up the process.
Hours for early voting will be decided by the Election Commission and announced for each election.
On the last day of early voting, machines will be sealed and kept in a secure location. Early voting results will be tallied after closing of the polls at 7:00 p.m. on election night.
Voting Machine Information
Hardin County Election Commission is proud that in 2016 we were the first county in Tennessee to move from Direct-report electronic (DRE) technology to Optical Scan technology. This system provides a paper-verifiable voting record and was purchased based on voter feedback.
The Election Commission is using Express Vote machines which do not tabulate the vote. The machines allow the voter to select their candidates and review their selections before printing a paper ballot that is scanned into a tabulator (DS200). This technology affords the voter two opportunities to check their selections for accuracy. The voter can make changes during their review process and again after they print their ballot card. Once their ballot is cast in the tabulator their vote has been cast and cannot be changed.
The DS200 Precinct Scanner (ballot scanner) is a high resolution image scanner that scans paper ballots of various sizes and captures the voter’s selections marked on each paper ballot. Ballots drop into the bottom of the tabulator into a ballot bin. The voter can see on the screen that the counter has moved and they can hear their ballot drop into the bin.
Expressvote Training Video
Voting Methods
ABSENTEE
By Mail Absentee Voting A. Reasons – A registered voter in any of the following circumstances may vote absentee by mail: T.C.A. § 2-6-201. Absentee By-Mail Ballot Applications are located on our website or can be obtained by calling our office.
- Persons Outside of County – The voter who will be outside the county where the voter is registered during the early voting period and on election day during all the hours the polls are open for any reason other than the fact that the voter will be imprisoned;
- Students and Spouses Outside of County – The voter or the voter’s spouse who is enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited college, university or similar accredited institution of learning in this state which is outside the county where the voter is registered.
- Voters on the Permanent Absentee Voting Register – A voter whose licensed physician has filed not less than seven (7) days before the election a statement with the county election commission stating, under the penalty of perjury, that in the physician’s professional medical judgment, the patient (voter) is medically unable to appear at the polling place to vote and is medically unable to go to the commission office for the purpose of early voting.
- Residents of Certain Institutions Outside of County – Voters who are fulltime residents of a licensed nursing home, home for the aged or similar licensed institution providing relatively permanent domiciliary care, other than a penal institution, outside the voter’s county of residence.
- Jurors – A voter who expects to be unable to appear during the early voting period or at the polling place on election day because the person is serving as a juror for a federal or state court;
- Persons Over 60 – A voter who is sixty (60) years of age or older.
- Persons Hospitalized, Ill or Disabled — A voter with a disability whose polling place is inaccessible; A voter who is hospitalized, ill or physically disabled, and because of such condition, cannot appear at the person’s polling place on Election Day. This includes persons who have underlying medical or health conditions which in their determination render them more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 or at greater risk should they contract it.
- Caretaker of a Hospitalized, ill or physically disabled person — The voter who is a caretaker of a hospitalized, ill or disabled person. This includes persons who have underlying medical or health conditions which in their determination render them more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 or at greater risk should they contract it.
- Candidates for Office – The voter who is a candidate for office in the election for which the voter seeks to cast an absentee ballot;
- Election Officials – The voter who serves an election official or a member or employee of the election commission on Election Day.
- Observance of a Religious Holiday – The voter who cannot appear during the early voting period or at the polling place because of observance of a religious holiday.
- Persons Possessing a Valid Commercial Driver License (CDL) and Spouses – The voter or the voter’s spouse who cannot appear during early voting or at the polling place because the voter possessing the CDL will be working outside of the county or state. The voter must provide a photocopy of the commercial driver license along with the commercial driver license number on the application, if applicable. Under this exception, the absentee ballot can be sent to an address within the county; however, if the voter registered by mail the voter must vote in person at the first election and cannot request an absentee ballot until that requirement is met.
- Military member, spouse, or dependent (See form 76 Federal Postcard application)
- National Guard – An activated National Guard member on state orders (See form 76 Federal Postcard application)
- Overseas citizen – Overseas citizen and otherwise qualified to vote in TN. (See form 76 Federal Postcard application)
EARLY VOTING
Early Voting takes place not more than twenty (20) days nor less than five (5) days before the day of the election. During this period each county must be open a minimum of three (3) consecutive hours including Saturdays. All Early Voting is at the Courthouse, lower level. Early Voting hours change with each election but always include some evening and Saturday hours. Hours are posted on the website, Facebook, in the Courier, TN Magazine and at various local businesses and churches.
ELECTION DAY
All voting on Election Day is done at the voters assigned polling precinct. There is no voting at the Election Commission office. Polls are open from 8am to 7pm.
PHOTO ID
You must present a current or expired photo ID issued by the federal or Tennessee state government when you vote in person. College student ID’s, IDs issued by local governments, and IDs issued by other states are not accepted.
HELPFUL RESOURCES
Hardin County Election Commission
465 Main Street
Courthouse, lower level
Savannah, TN 38372
Phone: 731-925-3375
Fax: 731-925-9734
Facebook: Hardin Co. Election Commission
Email: Hardin.commission@tn.gov
Register to Vote Online & other information: www.GoVoteTN.com
Voting Machine FAQs
Yes. All ballots are scanned, tabulated and secured in the ballot bin. All ballots are stored for 22 months in the event that an election is contested.
On December 13, 2005, the Election Assistance Commission unanimously adopted the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), which significantly increase security requirements for voting systems and expand access, including opportunities to vote privately and independently, for individuals with disabilities.
The voluntary guidelines provide a set of specifications and requirements against which voting systems can be tested to determine if the systems provide all of the basic functionality, accessibility and security capabilities required of these systems. In addition, the guidelines establish evaluation criteria for the national certification of voting systems. TN has adopted these standards & all machines must be certified to these standards.
Pre-election testing is a two-step process. The vendor tests the system with hundreds of ballots and produces a report for the Election Commission. Upon receipt of the election media, and test deck, the Election Commission tests those same ballots in our machines. We then ensure that the report generated by the vendor matches the report generated by our office. A second test deck is then produced, tested and matched to the coordinating report.
On Election Day each polling precinct will print a tape that shows that there are no votes cast.
Yes! Hardin County Election Commission’s new voting system produces a voter-verifiable paper record – a “paper trail” – of each voter’s selections. Election officials can compare the ballots marked by voters against the results generated by the ballot scanners to accurately confirm the intention of the voters. All paper ballots will be stored by the Election Commission and are available for auditing and recounting purposes.
The Express Vote machines are touch-screens. It is important to use the ball of your finger. At the review screen, the contests that have been voted correctly (a candidate or specific number of candidates), the voter will see a large check mark in that contest box. This is an opportunity to make any corrections. If the voter misses this opportunity and prints their ballot card, we can spoil that card if the voter finds an error or omission.
All voting booths will have privacy panels so you can mark your ballot privately. Once your ballot is printed only the voter has possession of it. The voter will place it face down into the tabulator where it is scanned. It automatically drops into the locked ballot box, no one can tell which ballot is the voters as the ballot does not include a name or number.
Yes, the new voting system is accessible for voters with disabilities.
Yes! Poll workers are happy to assist during the entire voting process. Many first time voters have commented on the ease of use of the system.