Electoral systems in Tennessee
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The term electoral system can refer to the method by which elections are conducted (e.g., whether officials are elected in single-winner versus multi-winner systems) or the method by which votes are tallied to determine the outcome of an election (e.g., plurality systems, majority systems, ranked-choice voting systems, etc.). In the United States, most federal and state-level officials are elected via plurality vote in single-winner contests, although some jurisdictions (e.g., cities, school boards, etc.) employ alternative electoral systems.
See the sections below for additional information on the following topics:
- Background: This section defines and describes methods for conducting elections, including single-winner systems and multi-winner systems. This section also defines and describes various vote-tallying methods, including plurality voting, majority voting, ranked-choice voting, block voting, single voting, and cumulative voting.
- Electoral systems used in Tennessee: This section outlines the electoral systems used in federal elections (i.e., elections for president and United States senators and representatives) and state-level contests (i.e., elections for state legislators, governors, and other state executives).
- Noteworthy events: This section summarizes noteworthy events relevant to electoral systems in Tennessee.
- State legislation and ballot measures: This section lists state legislation and state and local ballot measures relevant to electoral systems policy.
Background
The term electoral system can refer to two distinct, yet related, concepts: the method for conducting elections and the method for tallying votes to determine electoral outcomes.
Methods for conducting elections
Generally speaking, elections can take one of two basic forms: single-winner or multi-winner. In a single-winner election, one candidate alone can be elected to the office in question. In a multi-winner election, by contrast, multiple candidates can be elected to the same office.[1][2]
- A single-winner system is one in which one candidate is elected for an office. Elections for the presidency of the United States are single-winner contests; because the United States Constitution provides for a single chief executive, no more than one person can serve in that capacity at any given moment. Elections for the United States House of Representatives are also single-winner contests, as each district is permitted to elect a single representative.[1][2]
- A multi-winner system is one in which multiple candidates are elected to an office. Elections for at-large city council seats are sometimes multi-winner contests. For example, there may be three at-large council seats up for election in a given year. In some of these elections, voters are asked to select up to three choices on their ballots. The top three vote-getters win election to the at-large seats. Some state legislative chambers in the United States use multi-member districts, which elect multiple members. Proportional representation systems are a specific class of multi-winner systems in which offices are allocated to candidates or political parties in proportion to their share of the total vote.[1][2][3]
Methods for tallying votes to determine electoral outcomes
Single-winner system methods
Vote-tallying methods for single-winner election systems include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Plurality voting system: In plurality systems, the candidate who wins the largest share of the vote wins the election. The candidate need not win an outright majority to be elected. These systems are sometimes referred to as first-past-the-post or winner-take-all.[1][3]
- Majority voting system: In majority systems, a candidate must win at least 50 percent of the vote in order to win the election. In the event that no candidate wins an outright majority, a runoff election is held between the top two vote-getters. For this reason, majority systems are sometimes referred to as two-round systems.[1][3]
- Single-winner ranked-choice voting system: In a single-winner ranked-choice voting system, voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. Votes cast for the eliminated candidate are transferred to second-preference choices (if a ballot lists only the eliminated candidate, the vote is considered exhausted and is removed from future tallies). A new tally is conducted to determine whether any remaining candidate has won a majority of the remaining votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority. This system is sometimes referred to as an instant-runoff system.[1][4]
Multi-winner system methods
Vote-tallying methods for multi-winner election systems include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Block voting system: In a block voting system, a voter can select as many candidates as there are open seats. The candidates with the greatest number of votes are elected. If, for example, there are three at-large city council seats up for election and six candidates for those seats, the top three vote-getters would win election to those seats.[1]
- Single voting system: In a single voting system, each voter can select one candidate, regardless of the number of open seats. The candidates with the greatest number of votes are elected (for example, if there are three open seats, the three candidates with the greatest number of votes will win the election).[1]
- Cumulative voting: In a cumulative voting system, each voter can cast a number of votes equal to the number of seats up for election. A voter can allocate all of these votes to a single candidate or distribute them among several candidates. If, for example, there are three city council seats up for election, a voter can cast all three of those votes for a single candidate or split them among the three candidates (e.g., casting two votes for one candidate and one for another, etc.). The candidates with the highest number of votes win.[1]
Electoral systems used in Tennessee
The states have the authority to determine which electoral systems they will use in contests for state-level offices. The systems used in contests for federal office must adhere to federal constitutional guidelines, as well as applicable state laws.
Federal elections
Article II, Section 1, of the United States Constitution provides that the President of the United States is elected by the Electoral College via majority vote in a single-winner contest. Of the 50 states, all but two award all of their presidential electors to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote in the state (Maine and Nebraska each award two of their electors to the candidate who wins a plurality of the statewide vote; the remaining electors are allocated to the winners of the plurality vote in the states' congressional districts).[5]
Article I, Section 4, of the United States Constitution grants the states the authority to determine the rules by which they elect their United States Senators and Representatives, unless the United States Congress acts to change those rules:[6]
| “ | The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.[7] | ” |
| —Article I, Section 4, of the United States Constitution | ||
Article I and the Seventeenth Amendment of the United States Constitution establish that each state selects two United States Senators in staggered elections. In 1967, the United States Congress passed a law requiring that each state establish single-winner districts and exclusively elect their United States Representatives from those districts. Consequently, in every state, United States Senators and United States Representatives are elected in single-winner contests. A majority of states determine winners in these contests via plurality vote. In Tennessee, winners in congressional contests are determined via plurality vote.[8][9]
State-level elections
All elective state executive officers (e.g., governors, secretaries of state, treasurers, etc.) in the United States are selected via single-winner contests. A total of 40 states conduct only single-winner contests for their state legislative elections. The 10 remaining states conduct multi-winner contests for some state legislative seats: Arizona, Idaho, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia. Plurality counts are generally used to determine electoral outcomes, though some states and jurisdictions use other tabulation methods (for example, Louisiana employs a majority voting/two-round system in which a runoff general election is held if no candidate for congressional or state-level office wins a majority of the vote in the first round of voting).[8]
The table below details the electoral systems used in Tennessee for state legislative offices and the governorship.
| Electoral systems for state-level offices in Tennessee | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Office | Single-winner or multi-winner | Vote tabulation method | |
| State legislators (representatives and senators) | Single-winner[10] | Plurality[11] | |
| Governor and lieutenant governor | Single-winner[12] | Plurality[12] | |
Noteworthy events
2022
On February 28, 2022, Governor Bill Lee (R) signed SB1820 into law, barring county election officials from using ranked-choice voting in state-level and municipal elections. The legislation took immediate effect.[13]
The Tennessee State Senate passed SB1820 by a vote of 26-4 on February 14, 2022, with all 26 "yea" votes coming from Republicans and all "nay' votes being cast by Democrats. The Tennessee House of Representatives approved the bill by a vote of 74-19 on the same day, also along party lines.[13]
Sen. Brian Kelsey (R), who sponsored SB1820, described ranked-choice voting as a "very confusing and complex process that ultimately, I think, leads to lack of confidence in the vote totals." Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro (D), who voted against the bill, said, "[Ranked-choice voting is] an innovation that might work, and it might not. But I don't see why we would snuff that out in the crib."[14]
2017-2018
On July 20, 2017, the Shelby County Election Commission announced plans to implement ranked-choice voting for city council elections in Memphis beginning in October 2019. The change was approved by voters as a city charter amendment in 2008, but, according to Elections Administrator Linda Phillips, the change was not implemented at the time because the commission did not think it had the equipment necessary. Phillips said that the city's existing "equipment can capture the voter’s intent, but cannot do the actual tabulation of votes," thereby requiring manual counting of votes; still, Phillips said that ranked-choice voting would be "much cheaper and less trouble than holding a separate runoff election.” The commission announced plans to run a mock election to test the system. The commission also announced that additional ordinances must be passed to address specific policy questions, such as whether ranked-choice voting will apply only to the seven single-member election districts or to all 13 districts.[15][16]
On October 17, 2017, according to The Commercial Appeal, the Memphis City Council voted unanimously to "instruct its attorney … to draft an ordinance that, if approved, would force another referendum vote in 2018 on whether to repeal" ranked-choice voting (RCV) for city council elections.[17]
On November 14, 2017, the Memphis Daily News reported that Tennessee Elections Coordinator Mark Goins had informed Phillips that RCV is not permissible under state law. In a letter dated September 26, 2017, Goins said, "The process of manually distributing votes and having multiple rounds of reallocating votes to determine the winner is not authorized by any of the current statutes in Tennessee law." Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford, Jr., an RCV opponent, said that he would continue advocating for a repeal referendum and questioned whether county election administrators were attempting to circumvent state law: "It seems that the Shelby County election commission and others have known for over two years that instant-runoff with two opinions is not permitted without a change in state law. Which leads me to my question of conscious disregard for the law." Former Shelby County commissioner and RCV proponent Steve Mulroy said that September 26 letter did not have the force of law and that implementation should proceed: "It’s not a binding court order that forbids the elections administrator from continuing. Unless or until there is a competent authority that orders here to cease and desist implementation will continue."[18]
On February 6, 2018, the Memphis City Council voted 11-2 to schedule a referendum vote on the use of ranked-choice voting in city council elections. The vote took place on November 6, 2018.[19] The referendum was defeated, paving the way for RCV to be implemented in city elections in 2019. However, ranked-choice voting was not u sed in the 2019 city elections, and the enactment of SB1820 (see above) precluded implementation in future elections.
State legislation and ballot measures
The table below lists bills related to electoral systems that have been introduced during (or carried over to) the current legislative session in Tennessee. The following information is included for each bill:
- State
- Bill number
- Official name or caption
- Most recent action date
- Legislative status
- Topics dealt with by the bill
Bills are organized alphabetically, first by state and then by bill number. The table displays up to 100 results by default. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.
Electoral systems ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked no ballot measures relating to electoral systems in Tennessee.
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See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 FairVote, "Electoral Systems," accessed July 7, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 International Political Science Review, "Choosing Electoral Systems: Proportional, Majoritarian and Mixed Systems," July 1997
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Georgetown University, "Electoral Systems," accessed July 7, 2017
- ↑ MinneapolisMN.gov, "Frequently Asked Questions about Ranked-Choice Voting," accessed July 7, 2017
- ↑ United States Constitution, "Article II, Section 1," accessed July 7, 2017
- ↑ United States Constitution, "Article I, Section 4," accessed July 7, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 FairVote, "Electoral Systems in the United States," accessed July 7, 2017
- ↑ Tennessee Code, "Section 2-8-110," accessed July 21, 2017
- ↑ Tennessee Constitution, "Article II, Sections 5 and 6," accessed July 21, 2017
- ↑ Tennessee Code, "Section 2-8-111," accessed July 21, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Tennessee Constitution, "Article II, Section 2," accessed July 21, 2017
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Tennessee General Assembly, "SB1820," accessed February 28, 2022
- ↑ U.S. News and World Report, "Tennessee Lawmakers Pass Ban on Instant Runoff Voting," February 14, 2022
- ↑ The Commercial Appeal, "Memphis will scrap City Council runoff elections in 2019," July 20, 2017
- ↑ Shelby County Election Commission, "Ranked Choice Voting Demonstration Scheduled for Tuesday’s SCEC Meeting," accessed July 28, 2017
- ↑ The Commercial Appeal, "Memphis Council may challenge instant runoffs with referendum," October 23, 2017
- ↑ Memphis Daily News, "Tennessee Elections Coordinator Says Ranked-Choice Voting Not Permissible," November 14, 2017
- ↑ Memphis Flyer, "Voters Will Decide Whether or Not to Eliminate Council Runoff Elections," February 6, 2018
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