Election Websites: Tennessee

Fact Sheet Read time:
Projects: Election Initiatives & Government Performance Project
Election Websites: Tennessee

Return to report home page. 

TN BONE2Researchers assessed state election websites for the Pew Center on the States between May-November 2010, using detailed criteria evaluating the content, lookup tools, and usability. Websites may have changed since they were assessed. See methodology (PDF).

Strengths include:

  • Voter registration information for those who are hospitalized, felons, college students, the homeless, people in the military, or residents of long-term- care facilities.
  • Extensive information about absentee voting, including eligibility requirements, instructions and deadlines for applying, and an explanation of what to do if ballots are not received or are spoiled.
  • Lookup tools for voters to check their registration status and polling place, both transferred to a secure server in 2010 and highlighted on the home page.
  • Job descriptions for elected officials.
  • Exemplary navigation, with “breadcrumbs” that help users determine where they are on the website.

Recommended improvements include:

  • Provide Election Day polling place hours (49 states offer).
  • Offer information about the availability of assistance by poll workers for voters with disabilities (46 states offer).
  • Create a section of information for voters with disabilities (36 states offer).
  • Provide information about a voter's right to cast a provisional ballot (43 states offer).
  • Offer a provisional ballot lookup tool (19 states offer) or a phone number for finding out whether provisional ballots were counted (15 offer).
  • Present election resources in languages other than English (37 states offer).
  • Provide information about whether a voter can receive assistance in marking an absentee ballot (18 states offer).
  • Allow access to the polling place lookup tool by street address, instead of personal voter record information (27 states offer).
  • Make text easy to scan and concise, using bullets and hyperlinks.

Noteworthy Feature: The website includes a helpful explanation of the differences between absentee voting by mail, which requires an acceptable reason under state law, and early, in-person voting, which is designed to increase the convenience of voting and is available to any Tennessee voter, without providing a reason.

Initial Quick Fix: Fix the numerous broken links on the “Military/Overseas Voting” page that are supposed to lead to instructions about the Federal Voting Assistance Program's Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot.

Summary: The website is well designed and scores high in usability, but an average content score and low score for lookup tools contribute to its overall low score. Tennessee offers just two out of five recommended lookup tools.

www.state.tn.us/sos/election/index.htm was assessed for content, lookup tools, and usability.

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
RELATED
Tags
Election administration
Projects
Election Initiatives Government Performance Project
Places
Tennessee

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

An adult and a child huddle in front of a laptop computer, their faces lit by the screen, with a room and bright windows behind them.

Article

November 27, 2023 Researchers Share How State Grants Boost Broadband Access
A group of teenagers gather in a park with bikes, their silhouettes in high contrast to the cloudy sky behind them.

Article

November 2, 2023 Insights on Brain Development Can Improve Youth Justice
Five video cameras on tripods stand in a line, with one reporter holding a camera slightly out of focus, all aimed at the same subject.

Article

October 6, 2023 Data-Based Journalism Needed to Advance Youth Justice

MORE FROM PEW

An aerial view of a vast wetland, with scattered vegetation visible on sandy islands. In Western Australia, a Conservation Model for the World
A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
A large group of people in formal or traditional attire stands together on a stage, with a digital background depicting marine life and the large text “WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.” WTO Needs to Redouble Its Effort on Fishing Subsidies
A man in a winter hat and sunglasses kneels on a rocky shoreline in front of a campfire, holding a metal mug with gloved hands. Behind him, in the water, a motorboat is moored to the shore. Cliffs rise on both sides of the water. Why Newfoundland’s South Coast Fjords Are Sacred
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.