Putnam County polls will open at 9am for Tuesday’s primary election.
Putnam County Administrator of Elections Jennifer Murphy said voters are required to present either a Tennessee-issued photo identification or a federal government-issued photo ID to vote.
“You have to be registered and voting where you live because how else are you going to represent your ideas for your community?” Murphy said. “So, you need to register where you live or register where you’re sleeping at at night.”
Murphy said individuals who have moved within the county must vote at the correct precinct corresponding to their current residence.
“That’s what we always say,” Murphy said. “Where you rest your head is where you should register. And then once you’re registered, you have to vote in your correct precinct. This is essentially important because that’s how, that’s how we balance our election is to make sure, you know, you’re voting in the correct precinct in the correct county.”
Murphy said voters who arrive at the polls without a photo ID may cast an orange provisional ballot. Murphy said these voters then have two business days to provide an acceptable photo ID to the election office for their ballot to be counted.
“If you believe that you attempted to register to vote, in Putnam County, we can offer you a provisional ballot,” Murphy said. “It’ll be done with a special judge at the precinct, and we’ll just do a research to see if you attempted to register anywhere in like at one of our personal appearance agencies, and then you could vote your provisional, and the provisional count on board would count it after we make sure you attempted to register.”
Murphy said the deadline to register for the August 6th County General and State and Federal Primary is July 7th. Murphy said registration for the November election must be completed by October 5th.
“If anybody, any voter has any doubt about where they need to go or anything that they need to bring to the precinct to vote tomorrow, please call our office at 526-2566 and we should be able to direct you,” Murphy said.
Murphy said residents can register to vote in person at the election office or through the state’s online registration website.
Polls close at 7pm.