Section 2-7-115 - Residence requirements - Primary election voting requirements(a) A voter may vote only in the precinct where the voter resides and is registered, but if a registered voter has, at any time prior to voting, changed residence to another place inside the county, the voter must vote pursuant to § 2-7-140. If a registered voter has, within ninety (90) days before a state primary or general election or federal primary or general election, changed residence to another place inside Tennessee but outside the county where the voter is registered, the voter may vote in the polling place where the voter is registered. If the voter has, within ninety (90) days before an election, changed name by marriage or otherwise, the voter may vote in the polling place where the voter is registered or is entitled to vote under § 2-7-140.(b) A registered voter is entitled to vote in a primary election for offices for which the voter is qualified to vote at the polling place where the voter is registered if: (1) The voter is a bona fide member of and affiliated with the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote; or(2) At the time the voter seeks to vote, the voter declares allegiance to the political party in whose primary the voter seeks to vote and states that the voter intends to affiliate with that party.(c)(1) On primary election days, a sign that is a minimum of eight and one-half inches by eleven inches (8.5"x11") with a yellow background and bold, black text containing the following language must be posted in each polling place: It's the Law! Please Read...
It is a violation of Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-7-115(b), and punishable as a crime under Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-19-102 or Section 2-19-107, if a person votes in a political party's primary without being a bona fide member of or affiliated with that political party, or to declare allegiance to that party without the intent to affiliate with that party.
(2) The officer of elections at each polling place shall ensure that the sign prescribed by subdivision (c)(1) is posted in a prominent, highly visible location within the polling place.Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 473, s 1, eff. 5/17/2023.Acts 1972, ch. 740, § 1; 1974, ch. 801, § 1; T.C.A., §2-715; Acts 1997 , ch. 550, § 9; 2000, ch. 756, § 14.