Early Voting is Open through Saturday!

You still have time to participate in Shelby County’s early voting through September 28. Election Day is October 3. With 10 races and a sales tax increase on the ballot, voting (and informed voting) can have a big impact this fall. Need more information about what’s on the ballot? Keep reading.  

Voters will pick a mayoral candidate, individual council districts, and three races for a council super district. View a sample ballot here. Comprehensive amounts of information is available on candidates running for office, including several links at the end of this post.  

What district are you in? Where is your polling place? Find that information and more here.  

Don’t forget about the right to vote on a referendum to raise the sales tax rate half a percent for police and fire services’ health care benefits and pensions. The full tax referendum from the Shelby County Sample ballots is below. 

“REFERENDUM LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX 

Shall the ordinance to increase the sales and use tax in the City of Memphis by 0.5%, from 2.25% to 2.75% become operative? The proceeds of this 0.5% tax increase shall first be used to restore and maintain the health care benefits for Public Safety employees (employees and pre-65 retirees of the Memphis Police Services and Fire Services Divisions) to the levels in effect as of July 1, 2014, and to restore and maintain the pension benefits of said employees hired prior to July 1, 2016 to the levels specified in the 1978 City of Memphis Pension Plan. Any remaining proceeds shall be used for street maintenance and/or pre-kindergarten education. All funds must be spent for the purposes designated above. These funds are to be used in addition to, and may not be used to replace or supplant, any current funding for the above purposes. Such tax shall be collected by the Tennessee Department of Revenue. A lawsuit for recovery of any tax illegally assessed or collected shall be brought against the City Treasurer of the City of Memphis.”

Links: 

“Who is running for Memphis Mayor in 2019” 

“Meet the candidates” 

“Voters guide to Memphis city elections”   

*The Memphis Medical Society is a nonpartisan organization and any information included is for the purpose of helping educate members and public of publicly available information.