Early voting starts this Friday for the Aug. 4th election.
There is a buzz amongst my friends and many county voters stating they will write in a candidate for county mayor. I would urge voters not to write in a candidate as a measure of protest to the results of the Republican Primary race for county mayor.
Please choose not to write in Sabrena Smedley or Matt Hullander.
Why?
Your write in vote will not count pursuant to relatively new law amendments to write in voting.
I wish to share what I have learned. In my opinion, the new write in law is designed to limit voters, and protect the power of political parties.
Let’s take a look at this new write in law.
“T.C.A. § 2-7-133 A candidate defeated in a primary election shall not complete a notice requesting write-in ballots to be counted in the general election, and any write-in votes cast for the candidate in the general election must not be counted.”
This means that a write in for Sabrena Smedley or Matt Hullander will not be counted at all. This was news to me. Further, any candidate who ran in a primary election cannot register as a write in candidate. This new law was enacted with a whisper, did any of y’all know about this?
The desire for voters to write in a vote is not hard to understand when the outcome of the Republican primary election on May 3rd is considered. I totally get it, but count me out on write in voting. I want my vote to be counted.
Matt Hullander 12,171
Sabrena Smedley 14,110
Weston Wamp 14,428
A staggering 26,281 majority did not vote for the Republican primary winner. The Republican primary winner for county mayor represents only 14,428 of 40,709 votes. The result is far from representing a will of a majority of voters.
Analysis of the Republican primary poling data indicates that 65 percent of the voters with Republican ID voted for someone other than the primary winner. The results represent a lack of a majority of voter support for the primary winner. This coupled with the Democrat coup that originated on Lindsay Street with Chris Anderson at the helm made Democrat primary history in Hamilton County. There was only 12 percent voter participation in the Democrat primary. The percent participation in the May 3rd Democrat primary was the lowest in three decades.
Where were all the Democrat voters?
The Democrat voters were participating in the Republican primary. Professional analysis shows that 30 percent of all Republican primary votes were from voters with Democrat ID. Voter ID is established from a voter’s historical participation in primaries.
As a result, there is a huge buzz about write in voting.
On a bigger issue, the state of Tennessee has placed so many layers of rules on write in candidates, likely protecting power of political parties, a write in vote is designed to fail in Tennessee with laws limiting voters. This is the entire write in law from CTAS, County Technical Advisory Service,
“Any person trying to receive a party nomination or be elected by write-in ballot must complete a notice to the county election commission of each county of the district requesting that his or her ballots be counted no later than 50 days before the primary or 50 days before a general election. T.C.A. §§ 2-7-133 and 2-8-113. The county election commission is required to promptly notify the state coordinator of elections and the registry of election finance as well as other candidates participating in the affected primary or election of the write-in notice. A write-in candidate will only have votes counted in counties where the notice was completed and timely filed. Write-in candidates for the offices of governor, United States Senator, and members of the United States House of Representatives are required to file their notice with the state coordinator of elections. In a primary election, a write-in candidate for that office must receive a vote equal to at least 5 percent of the total number of registered voters of the district, and receive more votes than any other candidate, to receive the party's nomination. T.C.A. § 2-8-113. Furthermore, a write-in candidate for county or municipal office must receive a minimum of 25 votes in the primary before being placed on the ballot for the general election, a requirement that cannot be modified by private act or charter. T.C.A. § 2-5-219. In an election where voting machines are used, a voter may write-in a name not listed on the ballot if the voter requests a paper ballot from the ballot judge before operating a voting machine. After receiving a paper ballot, a voter may not enter a voting machine. T.C.A. § 2-7-117.”
“A candidate defeated in a primary election shall not complete a notice requesting write-in ballots to be counted in the general election, and any write-in votes cast for the candidate in the general election must not be counted. T.C.A. § 2-7-133.”
This law appears protects the power of political parties. I understand that TCA 2-7-133 was adopted on October 1, 2019, so this is relatively new law that certainly needs to be repealed. In addition, a primary runoff provision added to primary election law is needed. I was completely unaware of this new law, and believe that many voters are not aware that their write in vote for Sabrena Smedley or Matt Hullander will be voided per new law.
In closing, we have two Democrat selected candidates on the ballot for county mayor. As a result, I will be voting for Matt Adams.
No daddy coattails for me, and I will not support a Wamp monarchy of Hamilton County government.
Matt Adams gets my vote. He was raised on a farm where hard work rules, military service, and a career paralegal. Matt Adams is the better Democrat selected candidate on the ballot on Aug. 4th. There is not a nickel's worth of difference in the two candidates in the county mayor’s race. I will not support a Wamp monarchy of Hamilton County government.
This conservative is voting for several Democrats as they are better candidates.
Have a blessed day y’all.
April Eidson
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Thanks, April, for bringing this to light about write in voting. The thought was definitely buzzing in my mind to write in a vote for Sabrena Smedley for county mayor as I did not like the tactics used by our current Republican candidate to win the primary. Weston Wamp seems much too slick for this conservative to vote for too.
I know little about Matt Adams, but I'll vote for the Democrat just to keep Wamp out of office. This could surely backfire as we have seen what happens when people vote against someone rather than vote for a candidate. If Adams turns out to be another Woke, Green New Deal, left wing lunatic, he could be easily recalled in this conservative county.
Mike Welch
Ooltewah