Local primaries, set for May 3, are the first of 3 elections this year. Why are primaries important, and how do you participate?
Tuesday, May 3, is the first of 3 election dates in 2022 in Rutherford County, Tennessee.
On May 3, voters will go to the polls to participate in Rutherford County party primaries. It is important to vote in the primary to try to ensure that the candidate you would like to have elected makes it to the general election. To run in the general election, a party’s candidate must win the party’s primary. Independent candidates run only in the general election.
In Tennessee, you do not declare a party affiliation when you register to vote. At the time you vote in a primary, you are asked to choose a single party's ballot when you sign in to vote.
In a primary, you are restricted to voting for only your chosen party’s candidates. For example, you are not able to vote for your favorite Republican candidate for sheriff and your favorite Democratic candidate for county mayor. But in a general election, voters are not restricted to a particular party. For example, you might vote for a Republican for sheriff, a Democrat for county mayor, and an independent for school board.
In recent local history, some races are only contested at the primary level, so it’s especially important to pay attention to the primary’s impact on local elections. To put this another way, recent elections have shown us that primaries are oftentimes the only elections that have multiple candidates to choose from (known as a contested election).
The party winners of each primary go on to face each other in the general election, along with any independent candidates. General election dates this year are:
Tuesday, August 4, 2022: general election for local Rutherford County and Murfreesboro City offices. This is also the date of Federal and State primaries.
Tuesday, November 8, 2022: general election for Eagleville, La Vergne, and Smyrna offices.
Here are some steps you can take to prepare to vote in the May 3 election, with early voting April 13 through April 29.
Step 1. Register to vote, or verify that you are registered.
To vote on May 3, you must be registered to vote by April 4.
To verify your voter registration, go to web.go-vote-tn.elections.tn.gov (GoVoteTN) and select the “Search by Voter” option. You will also find a link here to online voter registration.
You can also learn more about registering to vote and voting on the Rutherford County Election Commission site.
Our local election commission is very responsive to questions you might have about registering or your registration status, but if the League can assist, please feel free to contact us.
Step 2. Learn what districts you live in.
Go to web.go-vote-tn.elections.tn.gov (GoVoteTN) and select the “Search by Voter” option, or “Search by Address,” if you’re waiting on your registration. The resulting page will show a list of numerous options. Select “Districts,” and from there you will see the districts to which your address is assigned:
US House
TN Senate
TN House
Judicial (all of Rutherford County is district 16)
County
Municipal
School (applies to Rutherford County School Board)
Road (applies to Rutherford County Road Board)
Step 3. Learn who’s running and more about the candidates.
Now you’ll want to learn about the candidates. The May 3 primary includes party candidates for County Mayor, Trustee, Sheriff, County Clerk, Circuit Court Clerk, and Register of Deeds: These candidates will be the same no matter where you live in the county.
You’ll also want to learn about the candidates for your districts. Those primaries include County Commissioners Districts 1-21, County School Board Zones 1,4, 7, and a County School Board Zone 3 Vacancy (2- year term). This is where the district numbers that you found in Step 2 are important.
There are also party candidates for District Attorney General, Chancellor, Circuit Court Judge Div. I, II, III, IV, V, General Session Judge, Part I, II, III, IV, Juvenile Court Judge, Public Defender: These candidates will be the same no matter where you live in the county.
Murfreesboro School Board - no zones apply.
Here are some places to learn more about the candidates and candidate events (some of which may be party-sponsored):
Rutherford County candidates will hold meet and greet with voters (dnj.com)
Murfreesboro elections 2022: Rutherford County races, candidates (dnj.com)
A pdf listing of all candidates in the May 4 primary is also available on the Rutherford County Election Commission home page.
The League typically offers candidate forums on all general contested elections in Rutherford County and our county’s four municipalities.
Step 4. Make your plan to vote!
We are fortunate to have plenty of opportunities to vote in Rutherford County. Early voting will run April 13 through April 28 at YOUR CHOICE of vote centers. See more information here on the Rutherford County Election Commission site. Or, if you really like voting on Election Day, May 3, you’ll have your choice of 28 vote centers.
Step 5. Remember, GoVoteTN
We recommend that you install and use the GoVoteTN app on your device, or visit the GoVoteTN web app at web.go-vote-tn.elections.tn.gov. You can also see election results on this app.