Campaign signs are posted across the city, and unsolicited texts are arriving faster than you can reply “STOP.” It’s time to vote. Again.
Some of you are probably asking, “But wasn’t there a big election last year?” The answer is yes, but not for Memphis or Shelby County, specifically. In December, 14 Tennessee counties held an election asking voters to fill the seat left open by U.S. Rep. Mark Green’s resignation in the 7th Congressional District, which includes communities in Middle and West Tennessee.
But now you have an opportunity to make a difference in your community by casting your vote in local, state and federal elections in August and November.
Voters in New York City are seeing the power of their vote in the form of new programs launched by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who took office only six months ago, to address the city’s high cost of rental housing and unpredictable public transportation – two issues Memphians know well. Mamdani’s administration has already frozen rents for 1 million homes and is planning to speed up 50 bus routes. So, how do we use the power of our vote here in Memphis to replicate the successes New York City voters seem to be enjoying after electing a new chief executive who promised swift change?
Start with the ballot that is actually in your hands on Aug. 6, because it is a doubleheader and each half carries a different power. The county general election will yield final decisions. Winners will be determined for county mayor and sheriff to judges, court clerks and school board. The federal and state primary on the same ballot is a nominating exercise. You choose who advances to the November general election for governor, a U.S. Senate seat, Congress and the state legislature.
If Congress and the state legislature are the league owners, then the city and county officers are the team managers. Your local officials handle day-to-day operations here at home such as budgets, services and staffing, while state and federal lawmakers set the policies every city must follow, and their rules override ours every time.
Using the city’s charter as a guide, your vote works on three levels. The charter is the city’s rulebook or paperwork, similar to the U.S. Constitution for the country, and it dictates who holds power in Memphis, how they got it and how they’re allowed to wield it. Every level of power comes straight from the charter, and every one of those levels belong to you.
Level 1: Your vote selects leaders
You choose the people at the top. Memphis voters elect the mayor and all 13 members of City Council to four-year terms, according to the charter. Afterward, the people we elected hire or appoint their own staff and team. The charter also gives the mayor the power to pick department heads, including the chief of police. That means you will never see “Police Chief” on a ballot.
You vote for the mayor, and the mayor does the hiring. You are pre-approving the mayor’s hires when you choose a candidate for mayor. Ask about each mayoral candidate’s choices before you vote, because the mayor becomes your spokesperson. If an elected official leaves office early, the City Council picks a temporary replacement until you vote again.
Level 2: Your vote makes and changes laws
Since 1963, Memphis has been governed by “home rule,” which means its citizens can change the city’s charter themselves by voting for new laws, as long as no state or federal law is violated. You pick the players, and you have the power to rewrite the rules of the game.
The mayor-and-council form of government we have today exists because voters approved it in 1966, and it was formally established in 1968. Our October election date? Voters chose that election timing, also in 1966. Term limits? Voters passed those in 2010. The rule is two consecutive four-year terms – eight years in a row, then the seatholder must go. But it is not a lifetime ban. A former official can sit out and run again later. And home rule allowed Memphis voters in 2008 to change the city’s charter six times.
Level 3: Your vote fires
Your power does not end when the polls close. The charter lets voters fire, or recall, the mayor or a council member before their term is up. If enough registered voters sign a petition – equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last city election – the recall question appears on the next ballot: Should this official be removed? A simple majority says yes, and the office is vacated. But a petition can only be filed after an official’s first two years in office.
Before you go: ID rules
To activate your power, you must arrive at your polling place with a valid driver’s license or photo ID issued by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Tennessee state government or the federal government, even if they are expired. Student IDs, library cards and driver’s licenses from other states are unacceptable.
Your voter registration card is your reminder to vote, not your permission slip. It tells you where to vote. Your valid photo ID gets you a ballot. If your status shows “inactive,” you can still vote by verifying your address in writing with the Election Commission. Moved? Update your address by Aug. 1, which is five days before the election, with the change of address form at electionsshelbytn.gov. Then preview the full sample ballot so nothing surprises you in the voting booth.
The reason for this voter information series
Here is the part that should stay with you. In 2008, Memphis voters approved a new way of electing some of its officials called instant runoff voting, or ranked choice voting, a method in single-office elections such as mayor that requires voters to rank candidates in order of preference. The candidate who receives 50% of the vote is the winner. If no candidate receives the majority vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and an instant runoff gets underway. Voters whose top-ranked pick is eliminated have their votes transferred to their second choice. This process continues until one candidate receives over 50% of the vote, and is named the winner. This candidate ranking method is written into the city’s charter, but has never been used, not once in 18 years. The people voted, but the follow-through never came.
Voter fatigue is real. A confusing voting schedule, the nagging feeling that voting doesn’t matter, and ballot measures affirmed by citizens’ votes but overturned by the state can reinforce voter burnout. And lead to apathy.
But your vote does matter. Your vote selects leaders, makes laws, and even fires elected officials deemed unworthy of their office. Still, it only works if we vote and keep watch after ballots are counted.
This series will break down the aspects of our power and how to wield it responsibly. This city is your business. Have you read your paperwork?
The Memphis City Charter is free to read online at library.municode.com/tn/memphis/codes/charter.
Related coverage:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/nyregion/nyc-rent-freeze-what-to-know.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/nyregion/mamdani-hochul-bus-routes.html
Change of address form: https://www.electionsshelbytn.gov/change-of-address-replacement-card/
Full sample ballot: https://www.electionsshelbytn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-State-and-Federal-Primary-and-State-County-Sample-GEN.pdf
Instant runoff voting: https://scarlettsmedia901.blogspot.com/2026/07/scarletts-media-memphis-black-news.html
