Primary Elections will be held in 2026 here in the Upper Cumberland, and local election commissions are trying to help the communities prepare for the election.
Putnam County Administrator of Elections Jennifer Murphy said this election comes every four years, so this is a big time to vote for the county. Murphy said the county offices on the primary are the county mayor, county commissioners in all 12 districts, the county trustees, the sheriff, the circuit court clerk, the county clerk, registrar of deeds, the roads supervisor, and school board seats for districts 2, 4, and 6.
“Pretty much every county office is up for re-election except for the Assessor of Property, “Murphy said. “So if people are wanting to see any changes made in their county, now is the time to get out and vote, to put their say in, so it’s a big year for Putnam County.”
Overton County will have primary elections for county executive, county clerk, trustee, registrar of deeds, circuit court clerk, sheriff, school board members of five districts, and three county commission members from each of the five districts. White County will have the county executive, seven county commission spots, county trustee, sheriff, circuit court clerk, county clerk, registrar of deeds, road superintendent, and school board seats for districts five, six, and seven up for election.
White County Administrator of Elections Sherry Anderson said she encourages people to vote in their local elections, as these are the people in the immediate community.
“Local elections are the people they are going to come into contact with throughout the year and over the next four years or each election,” Anderson said. “They are your neighbors, they are the people that you are gonna go to ask questions about or in times of need.”
The absentee ballot request deadline is April 25. Early voting dates for the May 5 primary begin April 15 through April 30.
Overton County Administrator of Elections Craig Story said Overton usually sees strong voting numbers in early voting.
“The good news for us is that we early vote here in Tennessee, and do that for a couple of weeks prior to election day,” Story said. “So a lot of people take advantage of that in the state of Tennessee and Overton County. Typically, we see that better than half of our turnout takes place early.”
The primary will determine which representative for each party will move forward for the August 6 general election. The state and federal general election will be on November 3.
People can contact their local office or go to the Secretary of State’s website to receive a registration to vote application.