Primary Election Petitions to be Available Next Month

It’s less than a month away. Candidates interested in running for property assessor and all seven constable seats can soon pick up qualifying petitions at the local election office.
“September 11 is the first day we can issue qualifying petitions,” said Dennis Stanley, Administrator of Elections.
The DeKalb County Democratic Party has chosen to have a local primary on the same day as the Presidential Preference Primary—March 1, 2016—and as a result, all candidates for property assessor and constable will have the same qualifying deadline, which is Noon on December 10. Independent candidates must also qualify through the petition process and the local Republican Party has announced it will select candidates through a caucus system.
Candidates who qualify through the petition process must collect a minimum of 25 signatures to be eligible to be placed on the ballot, but the election office recommends 40-to-50 names as a safety measure. “There are times when people who are not registered voters or who live in the wrong district sign petitions,” Stanley said, “and we obviously cannot count those names as part of the required 25 signatures.”
The current property assessor is Scott Cantrell. The current constables are Chad Curtis in District 1; Chris Tramel in District 2; Travis Bryant in District 3; Paul Cantrell in District 4; Mark Milam in District 5; Carl Webb in District 6 and Johnny King in District 7. Curtis, Tramel and Bryant were elected two years ago to fill unexpired terms.
The last day to register to vote in the March 1 elections is February 1, 2016. Early voting will be held February 10 through February 23 (except Presidents’ Day February 15).
But the voting doesn’t end in March. The DeKalb County General and Tennessee State primaries are set for August 4.
Offices to be elected locally in August next year along with assessor of property and constable are school board seats for districts 4, 5, and 6. W.J. (Dub) Evins, III currently serves in District 5, Doug Stephens in District 6 and Kate Miller is filling her husband’s unexpired term in District 4.
Petitions for the county general and state primary will be available beginning January 8, 2016.
On the state level, offices up for grabs are State Representatives in Districts 40 and 46 (currently held by Terri Lynn Weaver and Mark Pody, respectively) and 6th District Congressman, currently held by Diane Black.
Also on the ballot in August are three municipal elections—Dowelltown, Liberty and Smithville.
In Dowelltown a mayor and two aldermen will be elected. In Liberty four aldermen will be elected and in Smithville three aldermen seats will be up for grabs.
To close out the year, the Presidential and Tennessee General elections will be held on November 8.