Charter Amendment: Knoxville City Elections

Tie-Breaker Process in City Council Elections Should Be Made Obsolete

In the case of a tie for the two highest vote totals in a city council election, all candidates tying for either first or second place should be allowed to move on to the regular (general) election. Currently, the charter only allows two candidates to move on to the general, forcing City Council to either make the deciding vote themselves to break a tie or hold a runoff election. However, the time between a primary and the general in a city council election does not allow time for a runoff election. Therefore, the language in the charter should be revised to allow the general (regular) election to serve as the runoff in the case of a tie in the primary.

Click here to read about my experience with the city's tie-breaker process in 2017.

Amelia Copy - City Election Changes - IG carousel.zip - 19

To prevent the need to resolve a tie in city primary elections, voters would need to amend Article VII, Sections 707 A, B, and C of the city charter.

  1. Change the charter to allow all candidates for mayor, city council, and municipal judge with the two highest number of votes in the primary to move on to the general (regular) election ballot (rather than the two candidates with the highest number of votes).
  2. Change the charter to allow at-large candidates to be elected in the primary with a majority of the votes.
  3. Change the charter to align the language with state law and current practice of holding district-only elections for district council representatives.

Click here to read the referenced section of the charter.

Click here to read the full proposed charter amendment. 

Key provisions/considerations from state law

  • TCA § 2-8-111 (Tie votes) states that if there is a tie vote between the two (2) or more persons having the highest number of votes for an office, the state election commission shall cast the deciding vote except that ... the municipal legislative body shall cast the deciding vote for municipal offices, or, in the alternative, the legislative body may by resolution call for a run-off election between the tied candidates.
  • TN 2023 Public Chapter 391 (amending TCA § 6-53-110) banned the ability for cities to nominate a candidate from a district and then put it to a city-wide vote, essentially electing them at-large. https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-6/municipal-government-generally/chapter-53/section-6-53-110/
  • City Council Attorney Rob Frost has conferred with the Election Commission and according to the state election office, my proposal is legal for purposes of a tie occurring in a city council primary election.
  • The language for the ballot contained in the ordinance was developed by MTAS - the Municipal Technical Service.