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Elections - Historical Notes

Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

Districts - Reapportionment

The acts listed below have affected the civil districts in Maury County, but are no longer operative regarding elections.

  1. Acts of 1903, Chapter 363, divided Maury County into nine Civil Districts instead of twenty-five then existing. The new districts were to be composed of one or more old districts. The polling places would remain the same throughout the county. The change of civil districts would have no effect on the school or road districts.
  2. Acts of 1905, Chapter 381, amended the Acts of 1903, Chapter 363 by adding a tenth civil district to the nine created in 1903. The Tenth Civil District would be composed of all the territory embraced in old Civil Districts two, fifteen, and sixteen, as they existed prior to passage of the 1903 act.
  3. Private Acts of 1925, Chapter 564, changed the line between the fourth and ninth Civil Districts of Maury County so as to include in the Ninth Civil District the lands of B. F. Dobbins, Caesar Kilcrease, Thomas Lockridge, Richard Lockridge, J. J. Underwood and C. C. Robinette, all of which are then in the fourth Civil District.

Elections

The following is a listing of acts for Maury County which affected the elective process, but which have been superseded or repealed. They are listed here for historical and reference

  1. Acts of 1807, Chapter 74, established five Districts for the Electors of the President and the Vice President of the United States. Maury County was in the Fifth District.
  2. Acts of 1812, Chapter 5, increased the number of Presidential Electoral Districts in the State from five to eight. The Seventh District was made up of the Counties of Williamson, Maury, Giles, and Lincoln, which would elect one Elector together. Votes would be counted and recorded at Columbia in Maury County. Electors would receive a mileage allowance of 25 cents per mile and compensation of $2.50 per working day.
  3. Acts of 1812, Chapter 27, established six U. S. Congressional Districts in Tennessee, doubling Tennessee's representation in Washington. The sixth Congressional District was composed of the Counties of Robertson, Montgomery, Dickson, Humphreys, Hickman, Stewart, Maury, and Giles.
  4. Acts of 1812, Chapter 57, increased the membership of the General Assembly of Tennessee to twenty Senators and forty Representatives. Maury County would elect one Senator and one Representative.
  5. Acts of 1813, Chapter 54, directed the Sheriff of Maury County to hold an election to select five commissioners for the Town of Columbia. The Commissioners were empowered to levy a tax to be used for roads, and other improvements.
  6. Acts of 1813, Chapter 67, directed the Sheriff of Maury County to hold an election at the house of Andrew Kennedy on Cathey's Creek for the purpose of electing a Governor, members of the State legislature, the President and Vice President of the United States, and members of Congress. The returns were to be made on the day following the election at Columbia.
  7. Acts of 1815, Chapter 31, organized Tennessee into eight U. S. Electoral Districts for the Election of the President of the United States.
  8. Public Acts of 1819, Chapter 69, divided the State into twenty Senatorial and forty Representative Districts. Maury County would elect one Senator and one Representative alone.
  9. Public Acts of 1822, Chapter 1, established eight U. S. Congressional Districts in the State. Bedford County, Lincoln County, Giles County, and Maury County composed the Sixth District.
  10. Public Acts of 1823, Chapter 47, formed eleven Presidential Electoral Districts in Tennessee, assigning the Counties of Maury and Bedford to the Eighth Electoral District.
  11. Public Acts of 1826, Chapter 3, apportioned the State for representation in the General Assembly to twenty Senators and forty Representatives. Maury County would elect one Senator and one Representative.
  12. Public Acts of 1827, Chapter 17, established eleven Presidential Electoral Districts and placed Maury, Bedford, and Hickman Counties in the Ninth District.
  13. Public Acts of 1832, Chapter 4, divided Tennessee into thirteen U. S. Congressional Districts. Bedford and Maury Counties composed the Ninth District.
  14. Public Acts of 1832, Chapter 9, set up fifteen Electoral Districts for the election of President and Vice President. Maury, Hickman, Perry, and Wayne Counties were in the Twelfth U. S. Congressional District.
  15. Public Acts of 1833, Chapter 71, provided that Maury County would constitute one of the twenty State Senatorial Districts and that the County would elect one of forty Representatives.
  16. Public Acts of 1833, Chapter 76, stated that a Constitutional Convention of sixty members would be called whose delegates would be elected on the first Thursday and Friday in March, and that those selected would meet in Nashville on the third Monday in May to revise, amend, and alter the current State Constitution, or form a new one. Maury County would compose a single District and elect two delegates.
  17. Public Acts of 1835-36, Chapter 39, enacted subsequent to the adoption of the 1835 Constitution, formed fifteen Presidential Electoral Districts in Tennessee. Maury, Hickman, Perry, and Wayne Counties formed the Twelfth District.
  18. Acts of 1839-40, Chapter 79, shifted the responsibility for selecting Electors for the President and Vice President to the General Assembly who would pick one Elector from each of the Congressional Districts in Tennessee.
  19. Acts of 1842 (2nd Sess.), Chapter 1, divided the State into twenty-five Senatorial Districts and fifty Representative Districts for the General Assembly. The Counties of Maury and Giles comprised one of the Senatorial Districts and Maury County, alone, would elect two Representatives.
  20. Acts of 1842, (2nd Sess.), Chapter 7, established eleven U. S. Congressional Districts in the State, and assigned Hickman, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne, and Hardin Counties to the Sixth Congressional District.
  21. Acts of 1851-52, Chapter 196, formed ten U. S. Congressional Districts in the State. The Sixth District contained the Counties of Franklin, Bedford, Marshall, Lincoln, and Maury.
  22. Acts of 1851-52, Chapter 197, apportioned the State for representation in the General Assembly. Maury County would elect one Representative. Maury, Hickman, Lewis, and Dickson Counties constituted one Senatorial District. The polls in that district would be counted and recorded at Centerville.
  23. Public Acts of 1865, Chapter 34, set up eight U. S. Congressional Districts in Tennessee. The Sixth District contained the Counties of Lawrence, Wayne, Hardin, Decatur, Perry, Lewis, Maury, Hickman, Humphreys, Dickson, Montgomery and Stewart.
  24. Public Acts of 1869-70, Chapter 105, authorized a referendum to be held on the proposed calling of a Constitutional Convention which would amend, revise, or form a new Constitution for the State. The ballots would be simply a "For" or "Against" proposition. There would be seventy-five delegates to the convention and each county would have the same number of delegates as it had Senators and Representatives in the General Assembly. The delegates elected would convene in Nashville on the second Monday in January, 1870.
  25. Public Acts of 1871, Chapter 146, apportioned the representation in the Tennessee General Assembly based on the 1870 Census. Maury County would elect one Representative alone, and be a part of the Fourteenth State Senatorial District with Williamson County. In addition, Williamson and Maury Counties would elect jointly one Representative.
  26. Acts of 1872 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 7, divided Tennessee into nine U. S. Congressional Districts, based on the 1870 Census. The Sixth District was made up of the Counties of Maury, Williamson, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne, Lewis, Hickman, and Dickson.
  27. Public Acts of 1873, Chapter 27, increased the number of U. S. Congressional Districts in Tennessee from nine to ten and reassigned counties accordingly. The Seventh U. S. Congressional District included the Counties of Maury, Williamson, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne, Lewis, Hickman, and Dickson.
  28. Public Acts of 1881, (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 5, established the number of State Senators at thirty-three and the number of Representatives at ninety-nine.
  29. Public Acts of 1881, (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 6, apportioned the State Senatorial and Representative Districts. Maury County elected two Representatives alone and another with Williamson County. The Counties of Maury and Lewis composed the Eighteenth Senatorial District.
  30. Public Acts of 1882 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 27, divided Tennessee into ten U. S. Congressional Districts. The Seventh Congressional District was made up of the Counties of Williamson, Maury, Giles, Lawrence, Wayne, Lewis, Hickman, and Dickson.
  31. Acts of 1891 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 10, apportioned the state according to the 1890 Census. Maury County would have two Representatives alone and share a Representative with Giles, Lewis, and Williamson Counties. The Nineteenth State Senatorial District contained the Counties of Maury, Perry, and Lewis.
  32. Public Acts of 1897, Chapter 17, amended Public Acts of 1890, Chapter 24, so that it would be applicable to counties of 50,000 population and over and cities of 2,000 population and over. The 1890 act was an election reform act which set standards and guidelines for the conduct of elections in counties of 70,000 and over and cities of 9,000 and over.
  33. Acts of 1901, Chapter 109, formed ten U. S. Congressional Districts in the State. The Seventh District included the Counties of Houston, Humphreys, Hickman, Williamson, Lewis, Maury, Giles, Lawrence, and Wayne.
  34. Acts of 1901, Chapter 122, was the last reapportionment of the General Assembly for more than sixty years. The Twentieth Senatorial District included the Counties of Maury, Perry, and Lewis. Maury County was to elect two Representatives.
  35. Acts of 1905, Chapter 387, amended Public Acts of 1897, Chapter 17, above, by making the 1890 Election Law applicable to Maury County.
  36. Private Acts of 1917, Chapter 65, amended Public Acts of 1897, Chapter 17, above, by providing that in Maury County no registration of voters living outside of Civil Districts containing incorporated towns or cities would be had, nor would registration for such persons be a prerequisite to their voting.
  37. Private Acts of 1925, Chapter 472, amended Acts of 1901, Chapter 122, above, by inserting the names of Maury and Lawrence Counties onto the list of counties to elect one representative to the General Assembly, and to include Giles, Maury, Lewis, and Wayne in the Seventeenth Floterial District.
  38. Private Acts of 1945, Chapter 198, provided that all election officials holding elections in Maury County would be paid $3 per day for their services.
  39. Private Acts of 1949, Chapter 628, amended Private Acts of 1945, Chapter 198, above, by providing that registrars holding registrations would be paid $3 per day.
  40. Private Acts of 1953, Chapter 203, provided for the election of members of the County Executive Committee by popular vote and set forth the number of Committee members from each of the districts in the County. Regulations for the filing of qualification petitions and the printing of names on ballots were prescribed and penalties were fixed for violations of the act.
  41. Private Acts of 1953, Chapter 416, extended the time for voting in the Ninth District and those precincts of the Seventh District located in Mount Pleasant from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
  42. Private Acts of 1961, Chapter 305, amended Private Acts of 1953, Chapter 203, above, by requiring candidates to qualify for election as a District Committeeman thirty days in advance of the election rather than ten days.
  43. Private Acts of 1965, Chapter 164, amended Private Acts of 1953, Chapter 203, above, by requiring the County Primary Commissioners of Counties to have names of candidates qualifying for District Committeemen positions properly printed on the ballots and properly placed in voting machines where used.