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Voting Absentee

To vote absentee by mail, you must fall under one of these categories:

  • You will be outside Shelby County during the entire early voting period and all day on Election Day.
  • You or your spouse is enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited college or university outside Shelby County.
  • You reside in a licensed nursing home outside Shelby County.
  • You will be unable to vote in person due to service as a juror for a Federal or State court.
  • You are sixty (60) years of age or older.
  • You have a physical disability and an inaccessible polling location.
  • You are hospitalized, ill or physically disabled and unable to appear at your polling place to vote.  A physician’s statement is not required to check this box.
  • You are the caretaker of a person who is hospitalized, ill, or disabled   A physician’s statement is not required to check this box.
  • You are a candidate for office in the election.
  • You serve as an Election Day official or as an employee of the Shelby County Election Commission.
  • Your observance of a religious holiday prevents you from voting in person during the early voting period and on Election Day.
  • You or your spouse possess a valid commercial drivers’ license (CDL) or you possess a valid Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card , and certify that you will be working outside Tennessee or Shelby County during the open hours of early voting and Election Day, and have no specific out-of-county or out-of-state address to which mail may be sent or received during such time.
  • You are a member of the military or are an overseas citizen. Learn more about military and overseas citizen absentee voting.

    • </ul >Under Tennessee law, once you have requested an absentee ballot, you cannot vote in person for that election except by provisional ballot. Applications cannot be processed if they are received more than ninety (90) days before an election. Applications must be received no later than ten (10) days before an election. Even though that is the legal deadline, waiting until 10 days prior to the election will make it difficult to receive your ballot and mail it back before the deadline.  We recommend asking for a ballot at least 2 weeks prior to the election.


Q: Is additional information required to vote absentee by-mail if I am a first-time voter who registered to vote by-mail?
A: Unless you are on the permanent absentee voting register, enrolled in the Safe at Home program, or you have previously voted in the county of registration, you must appear in-person to vote in the first election after you have registered by-mail or online at GoVoteTN.gov.

Notice to voters using US mail service: the USPS delivery standards changed in 2016 so that First Class delivery went from 1-3 days to 2-5 days and Standard delivery is now 2-9 days. Please request your ballot as early as possible.

The absentee ballot application for the May 5, 2026 County Primary: Fillable Application

The application must be received by the SCEC no later than April 25, 2026.

Please submit your request as soon as possible to avoid mail delays.

Download the Military and Overseas Application Here

To become a Permanent Absentee Voter and automatically have a Request for Absentee Ballot application sent to you before every election, you must:

Questions? Contact our Absentee Department at (901) 222-6800 or [email protected]