Get Out the Vote
A solid GOTV strategy begins with a vast Voter Registration Drive. Remember that anyone who turns 18 by election day is eligible to register to vote. Often we forget about the new voters who can be registered in our own neighborhoods. We need to find newcomers and welcome them with voter registration materials and we need to search out people whose registration may have been purged due to lack of voting behavior.
Registered Voters can check their status with the State of Tennessee’s “lookup” link HERE.
You can register to vote online HERE.
You can register by printing the Voter application found HERE and returning it to the Election Office in the Courthouse Annex in Pulaski.
First time voters in Tennessee are required to vote in person and cannot use an absentee ballot. However, if you returned your voter application to the Election Office you will have satisfied the Photo ID requirement are are able to absentee vote if you meet the State’s requirements.
VOTING ABSENTEE
Absentee Balloting in Tennessee allows voters eligible for this type of ballot to request the paper ballot as early as 90 days prior to the election day and as late as 7 days before the election.
The form to request a paper ballot be mailed to you is HERE.
Your request for an absentee ballot can arrive at the Election Office via fax, email or mail. HOWEVER, Tennessee law requires that all paper ballots MUST BE RETURNED TO THE ELECTION OFFICE BY MAIL. Unlike other states that allow you to drop your ballot off at the Elections Office, to send it via a drop box or by dropping it off on Election Day at the polls. Tennessee requires that your ballot arrive via MAIL. IF you are voting using an absentee ballot, allow plenty of time for the ballot to reach you from the Election Commission and for you to be able to mail it back to them. You ballot must have arrived via USPS by the close of the polls on Election Day.
PERMANENT ABSENTEE VOTING
Some voters who are deemed medically fragile can obtain a written statement from their physician in order to be placed on the PERMANENT ABSENTEE VOTER rolls. The form required for this status is HERE.
ABSENTEE MAILING INSTRUCTIONS
Voters need to be very careful to follow all instructions on the paper ballot and to be sure to add an extra stamp for the oversized mail postage!
DEPLOYED MILITARY VOTERS
Overseas and deployed military have slightly different requirements for paper ballots. Learn more HERE.
EARLY VOTING
Giles County maintains only one location for early voting. This is in Giles County Election Commission Office at 222 West Main Street, Pulaski. Early voting by state law begins 2 weeks prior to Election Day and continues for 10 days, ending the Thursday prior to the designated Election Day. The hours each day will vary.
VOTING ON ELECTION DAY
On election day, there are two polling locations in each Precinct. During Election Day you must vote at your designated polling location. Each Polling Location opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m.
The Voter Lookup will provide you with your precinct of registration.
To find your precinct voting location, use the list:
Precinct 1 Voting Locations
Ardmore City Hall Annex – 26345 Main St – Ardmore 38449
Almeda Gilbert Fellowship Hall Building – 230 Main Street – Prospect 38477
Precinct 2 Voting Locations
Minor Hill Community Center – 165 Wray Branch Road – Minor Hill 38473
Abernathy Field Airport – 326 Abernathy Road – Pulaski 38478
Precinct 3 Voting Location
Richland Trace Market – 19326 West Highway 64 – Pulaski 38478
Campbellsville Methodist Church – 10601 Campbellsville Road – Pulaski 38478
Precinct 4 Voting Locations
Lynnville Municipal Building – 101 Mill Street – Lynnville 38472
Odd Fellows Hall Church of Christ – 1875 Odd Fellows Hall Road – Pulaski 38478
Precinct 5 Voting Locations
Tennessee Center of Applied Technology – 1233 East College Street – Pulaski 38478
Agri Park – 2014 Elkton Pike – Pulaski 38478
Precinct 6 Voting Locations
Martin Methodist College Colonial Hall – 433 West Madison Street – Pulaski 38478
Bridgeforth Middle School – 1051 Bridgeforth Circle Street – Pulaski 38478
Precinct 7 Voting Locations
Giles County High School Voc-Ed Building – 200 Sheila Frost Drive – Pulaski 38478
Pulaski Recreation Center – 333 East College Street – Pulaski 38478
NEVER ASSUME
The rule for GOTV is to NEVER ASSUME!
Start by NEVER ASSUMING that someone is registered to vote! Always ask! And when they assure you that they ARE registered, help them double check to make sure that they have not been purged.
ALWAYS be willing to share voter registration information! Do not try to guess what their voting choices might be. Help to register ANYONE who needs encouragement to become a registered voter. They need only be 18 years old ON Election Day and be a Tennessee resident of the address they are registering from.
KNOW the Law when it comes to people who may have felony convictions for crimes. While there are crimes that can not have voting rights restored, many people are entitled to restore voting rights with a special application. Learn More HERE.
Tennessee has a photo ID requirement for first time voters. Unless a someone has registered to vote in person at the Election Commission offices, they will be required to vote in person at a polling place the first time they vote. The stated idea behind this requirement is that they will then submit a photo ID to verify their identity. Acceptable photo IDs are:
- Tennessee driver license with your photo
- United States Passport
- Photo ID issued by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security
- Photo ID issued by the federal or Tennessee state government
- United States Military photo ID
- Tennessee handgun carry permit with your photo
Note that a school ID or work photo ID are not acceptable. EXPIRED Photo IDs are acceptable, however, if you are voting for the first time with an expired photo ID you must also present a current utility bill or government check or paycheck stub as proof of your identity and address.
Some people are exempt from the Photo ID requirement:
- Voters who vote absentee by mail
- Voters who are residents of a licensed nursing home or assisted living center and who vote at the facility
- Voters who are hospitalized
- Voters with a religious objection to being photographed
- Voters who are indigent and unable to obtain a photo ID without paying a fee
LEAVE NO VOTER BEHIND
Many things are obstacles to voting. The voter may need a ride to the polls. The voter may feel uncomfortable – especially first-time voters – with the machines. The voter may not be able to read. The voter may have mobility challenges making standing in a waiting line impossible.
These are voters with whom you can help create a plan to vote so that their voices can be heard. Remember that YOU cannot accompany someone to the voting machine, but you can assist them in requesting that a voting registrar from their party join them at the machine.
For voters unable to stand in a line, the Election Officials will accommodate. When you arrive at the polls, let the Officials know you have someone who is unable to stand in the lines and they will allow them to skip the lines.
1965
The importance of 1965 cannot be overstated when it comes to voting and voting behavior. The passage of the Voting Rights Act extended voting rights to persons of color, but especially to Black women. Special voter registration efforts need to include outreach to persons of color. People who are 55 years and older may not have registered to vote due to historic intimidation, poll taxes and other suppression actions that were part of the voting system prior to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. And we know that voting behavior is modeled for children. In households where its patriarchs and matriarchs were legally and effectively prevented from registering, the tradition of registering to vote may not have passed down to younger generations.