Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-5-206 (2026)

• (a) Voting machine ballot labels and names of candidates shall be printed in black ink with office titles printed in black or red ink on clear material of such size as will fit the ballot frame and in as plain, clear type as the space will reasonably permit.

• (b) All voting machine ballots shall be arranged as follows:
  • (1) In primary elections, the title of the offices shall be placed vertically on the left or right side of the ballot, and there shall be a vertical column for each political party, and the names of the candidates shall be placed opposite the title of the office for which they are to be selected, in alphabetical order according to the initials of their surname, beginning with the first initial. Each column shall be designated by the name of the political party for that column;
  • (2) In general elections, the title of the offices shall be placed vertically on the left or the right side of the ballot, and there shall be a vertical column for each political party. Any candidate whose name is to be placed on the ballot by virtue of party nomination shall be listed in the political column of such candidate's party, opposite the title of the office the candidate seeks. One (1) vertical column for independent candidates shall be placed on the ballot and shall appear immediately after the political party columns. The independent candidates shall be listed in alphabetical order according to the initials of their surnames, beginning with the first initial. The independent candidate's name shall be listed opposite the title of the office the candidate seeks. This ballot format shall apply to all voting machine ballots, except in counties using Automatic Voting Machine, Inc. type machines, C.E.S., Votomatic or comparable punch card voting systems, or Shouptronic or other comparable direct recording electronic voting systems. Any county using Automatic Voting Machine, Inc. type machines shall arrange its machine ballots in the following manner, to wit: the title of offices shall be placed in vertical columns and the names of the candidates shall be placed in horizontal columns with each political party having its own columns and the independents being placed in a single column or columns after the political party columns; with such candidates' names being listed alphabetically according to the initials of their surname, beginning with the first initial. The ballot format for C.E.S., Inc., Votomatic, or other comparable punch card systems shall be governed by the rules set out by the coordinator of elections and the state election commission under § 2-9-110. The ballot format for Shouptronic or other comparable direct recording electronic voting systems shall be governed by the rules set out by the coordinator of elections and the state election commission under § 2-9-110. Such rules shall be approved by not less than four (4) members of the state election commission;
  • (3) If the arrangement as set out in subdivisions (b)(1) and (2) will not fit on the voting machine ballot, the county election commission may arrange the ballot so that the voting machine will accommodate the entire ballot including, without limitation, the arrangement of material in vertical columns with the office appearing first and the candidates for such office listed vertically beneath the office, with political party nominees indicated by (D) or (R) and independent candidates by (I); and
  • (4) Any county using a punch card format system which places an identifying number on the punch card ballot shall place the corresponding number by each position or name displayed on the ballot pages.

• (c) The county election commission of each county shall prepare a sample ballot of all candidates and mail this sample ballot to the coordinator of elections for approval. No ballot shall be printed or funds expended therefor by any county until such approval has been granted. The coordinator of elections must give approval or disapproval within ten (10) days of the receipt of the sample ballot.

• (d) If the coordinator of elections or the state election commission fails to correct promptly any alleged defect in any ballot, whether for voting machine, paper ballot, or otherwise, a candidate, the candidate's representative, or other party deemed to have standing may apply to the chancery court in the county wherein the allegedly defective ballot may be used, for any appropriate relief under this code or the rules of civil procedure.

• (e)
  • (1) Should there be so many candidates or questions, or both, to be voted upon in any election, as to exceed the capacity of a voting machine, paper ballots shall be provided for each polling place, to hold the entire ballot. Where paper ballots are required to list the entire ballot, the names of all candidates for any one (1) particular office shall be printed on the same paper ballot.
  • (2) Notwithstanding subdivision (e)(1), in any county where a voting machine will not accommodate the entire ballot, the coordinator of elections may, with the approval of the county election commission, permit the placement of part of the ballot on paper ballots. In considering the priority in which parts of the ballot should be placed on paper ballots, the coordinator shall first permit the placement of the candidates for the court of appeals and the court of criminal appeals on paper ballots. Next, the coordinator shall permit the placement of the unopposed candidates for countywide positions on paper ballots; provided, that no candidate who is unopposed in a primary election shall be placed on paper ballots. In any county having a population of not less than one hundred forty-three thousand nine hundred (143,900) nor more than one hundred forty-four thousand (144,000), according to the 1980 federal census or any subsequent federal census, the coordinator shall permit the placement of candidates in nonpartisan elections for county commission on paper ballots.

• (f) The machine shall be so adjusted that when one (1) or more voting pointers equaling the total number of persons to be elected to an office shall have been operated, all other voting pointers connected with that office shall be locked. The machines shall be so adjusted that no voter may vote in more than one (1) party's primary election.

Acts 1972, ch. 740, § 1; 1975, ch. 353, §§ 1, 2; T.C.A., § 2-512; Acts 1982, ch. 871, § 3; 1989, ch. 274, §§ 3, 4; 1989, ch. 573, § 1; 1989, ch. 574, § 1; 1990, ch. 628, § 4; 1990, ch. 797, § 1; 1997 , ch. 331, § 1; 2000, ch. 756, § 17.