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Wlaf1450Early voting is from Wed., April 15- Thu., April 30
By Charlotte Underwood
LAFOLLETTE, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF)- Campbell County Administrator of Elections Mallory Rosenfeld guest spoke at the Campbell County Rotary Club luncheon held at the LaFollette Methodist Church in late February. Since early voting begins on Wednesday, WLAF is republishing much of the original story from Charlotte Underwood.
Rosenfeld said she wanted to address “Rotarians and the public on the primary election process and another opportunity for voters to cast their ballot.” She explained the process of how a primary election works.
In the words of Mallory Rosenfeld:
“A primary election happens when an election is to be held for a political party for the purpose of allowing members of that party to select a nominee or nominees to appear on the general election ballot.
Independent candidates must qualify at the same time as primary candidates. For instance, this year, that date was set for February 19, 2026. The name of those independent candidates will not appear on the primary ballot in May.
Primary candidates and Independent candidates had the same withdrawal deadline as well, which was Thursday, February 26, 2026. No one withdrew.
For the primary, the voter will come in either during early voting or on Election Day. The voter will mark and sign their application to vote either as a Republican or Democrat.
Candidate-wise, the primary will be just like the State or Federal Primaries that the State of Tennessee has been operating under for many years. Candidates will be voted for, the top candidate in each office, where it has vote for one, will go to the August 6, 2026, General Election, these candidates are for County Attorney, County Mayor, County Trustee, County Circuit Court Clerk, County Clerk, Register of Deeds, Sheriff, School Board per district and Constable per district. The County Commission is a little different. There are three seats up for election per district. The three primary candidates in each political party for county commission with the most votes will go to the County General Election in August.
The County General Election will be held on Thursday, August 6, 2026. This ballot will have the candidates with the most votes in the primary plus the independent candidates listed.
It’s very important that the voter is aware that the primary election in May does not determine final election results for these county offices. That being said, don’t just show up in May and think it’s over. There will be a general election in August which will determine the official election results on who will take office for these positions. It’s important for voters to be aware to vote for both elections, on May 5, 2026, and August 6, 2026.
Other important dates for the voters to be aware of is that there will be Early Voting for the upcoming May 5, 2026, primary. There will be two locations to vote Early, one at the main office, 129 Church Alley at Jacksboro, adjacent to the courthouse at the Campbell County Election Commission and one at the Jellico Municipal Building at 410 South Main Street in downtown Jellico.
The dates for early voting is April 15 thru April 30, 2026.
The last day to receive an Application for an Absentee ballot will be on April 25, 2026. Our website campbellcountyelections.com has the Absentee Ballot forms online. You can print one and mail it or call our office to request. Note that the State of Tennessee has determined what qualifies you to vote absentee and that can be found on our website as well.
August 6, 2026, will not only be the County General Election. Also on the ballot will be the State Primary. The following offices will be on the August State Primary ballot; Governor, US Senate, US House of Representative, Tennessee House of Representatives, State Execute Committeemen and Committeewoman. And any applicable Judge Retentions Questions that the State Election Coordinators office will determine at a later time.
The last election we will have for the year will be The State General Election and Municipal elections for LaFollette, Jellico, Caryville and Rocky Top on November 3, 2026.
Voters will use the same machines that we have used in the 2024 election cycle. You will vote on the machine accordingly; a paper ballot will be printed from the machine. You will take your paper ballot to the scanner to cast your ballot, and the ballot will then be sealed and then ultimately stored in our office sealed for another 22 or so months. After each State and Federal Election, the State requires us to do a tabulation audit to verify that Campbell County Election procedures and tabulations result in no discrepancy or variations of the vote. Every election audit we have completed has resulted in 100% clean audits. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-04/13/2026-6AM)