The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security on Monday reminded citizens that it will again open eight of its driver service centers on Saturday, to give citizens another opportunity to obtain photo identification before Election Day.
A new state law requires citizens to present federal or state-issued photo identification to vote at the polls. The law also requires the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to issue photo IDs for voting purposes at no charge to registered voters who have no other acceptable form of photo identification.
As of Monday, the Department of Safety and Homeland Security has issued 24,468 photo IDs for voting purposes. Most of those (22,686) were conversions from non-photo to photo driver licenses. The department has issued 1,782 original photo IDs.
“I encourage citizens who need photo identification for voting purposes to take advantage of these special hours of service. No other transactions will be handled on Saturday. We will be focusing all resources on providing photo IDs to make sure everyone has the opportunity to get a photo ID before Election Day,” Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons said. Citizens may also visit of the state’s 51 driver service centers Monday through Friday during normal business hours to receive a photo ID.
The following eight driver service centers will be open from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. on Saturday. The centers will issue voter photo IDs and convert non-photo driver licenses into photo driver licenses only. No other services will be available during these special hours. The centers were chosen based on the size of the populations they serve and the response from citizens to centers that were opened on Saturdays before the primary election.
Davidson County
6604 Centennial Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37209
Hamilton County
6502 Bonny Oaks Drive
Chattanooga, TN 37416
Knox County
7320 Region Lane
Knoxville, TN 37914
Madison County
100 Benchmark Circle
Jackson, TN 38301
Putnam County
4600 Jefferson Ave.
Cookeville, TN 38506
Shelby County
3200 East Shelby Drive
Memphis, TN 38118
Washington County
4717 Lake Park Drive
Johnson City, TN 37615
Weakley County
8598 Highway 22
Dresden, TN 38225
To minimize the possibility of wait times during Saturday hours, groups or organizations planning to make a group visit to a driver service center should schedule an appointment by calling Melissa Long at 865 712-4908 (east Tennessee contact) or Rochelle Bryant at 931 242-7282 (west Tennessee contact).
For more information on the new voter photo ID law, including acceptable forms of photo identification and documents needed to obtain a photo ID for voting purposes, please visit the Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s website at www.tn.gov/safety.