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The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
This November, Knoxville voters will vote on how they want future city council elections to be conducted under some new changes to state law.
Knoxvillians with questions can attend an “informational meeting” about the options, scheduled to be held prior to the November 5th general election.
Earlier this year, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation that “prohibits members of local governing bodies to be elected through an election procedure that requires candidates to be nominated from a district and elected at large.”
Since Knoxville’s current procedure for city council elections dictates that city council members are nominated by members of their district in the primary election but allows all city residents to cast votes for all city council district candidates in the general election, Knoxville will now vote on a new election procedure.
The bill in question, HB0817/SB0526, was sponsored by Rep. Elaine Davis (R-Knoxville-District 18) and Sen. Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains-District 8).
Come November 5th of this year, Knoxville voters will see the following question on their election ballot:
“Shall Article IV, Sections 401, and 402, and Article VII, Sections 704 and 707 of the charter of the city of Knoxville be amended to elect six regional at-large councilmembers using regional residency as a qualification for regional candidates and three citywide at-large councilmembers and setting a process for primary and regular elections of council members consistent with Public Chapter 391, Acts of 2023. If more than one candidate receives the highest number of votes in the primary election, then only those candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be placed on the regular election ballot. If proceeding the regular election and only one candidate receives the second highest number of votes in the primary election, then the candidate receiving the highest number of votes and those candidates receiving the second highest number of votes shall be placed on the regular election ballot all as more fully set forth in ordinance No. __ of the city of Knoxville as duly published?“
A “no” vote will support district-only elections, allowing six council members who live in the district they aim to represent to be elected only by the district they aim to represent.
A “yes” vote will support city-wide elections, allowing six council members who live in the district they aim to represent to be elected by all voters in the city of Knoxville.
District-only elections have been deemed “the default choice” for adhering to the new state law, but city-wide elections would be the more familiar option for Knoxville voters.
The following question, which asks if the election of District 5 city council members should align with the other district elections, will also be on the ballot for Knoxville voters this year:
Shall Article IV, Section 404 of the charter of the city of Knoxville, entitled “same terms of office [of council members]” be amended to align the fifth council district with the other district council members by serving a two year term beginning on December 18, 2027 and ending on December 15, 2029 and thereafter serve for four year terms all as more fully set forth in ordinance No. O-97-2024 of the city of Knoxville as duly published?”
Currently, election of the District 5 city council member occurs alongside the elections for Knoxville’s mayor, municipal judge, and the at-large seats.
An informational meeting for Knoxville city voters to attend was already conducted the evening of September 12th, where Councilman Andrew Roberto and the NAACP were slated to push for the at-large voting system.
There is one more information meeting currently on the books.
This meeting will be held by Councilwoman Amelia Parker and the Progressive City Council Movement who will be advocating against changing the charter.
The meeting is scheduled for 3pm Saturday at the Clinton Chapel AME Zion Church on 546 College Street.
Knoxville’s next city election will be held in August of 2025.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
