SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — If you live in Memphis, there are a lot of critical issues at stake this election that have nothing to do with who will walk into the White House next year.
In addition to votes for president, senator, and even mayor in some cases, there are six specific questions on the ballot for Memphis residents, and three of them have been causing some serious controversy.
The first three are as follows:
A vote to add a run-off election between the top two finishers in the mayoral race if no candidate gets 50% of the vote.
Current Mayor Paul Young, for example, won in 2023 with less than 28% of the vote. The hope is to add more voter participation and make sure more people’s votes are considered in their next Mayor.
A vote authorizing the city council to determine their own salaries, as well as the salaries of the Mayor and other chief officers. Currently, those are tied to the county commission.
A vote adding a two-year residency requirement to any candidates for mayor or city council. Multiple candidates in last year’s mayoral race did not live in Memphis.
The other three questions are related to gun safety. Even if passed, they would contravene state law. The Tennessee Attorney General has even called them "a fraud on the voters of Memphis."
- Would ban carrying a handgun within the city of Memphis without a valid permit. That includes openly carrying a gun and having a handgun in a vehicle without a permit. With a gun permit, the firearm and its ammo can be in a vehicle if it is stored out of sight in a trunk, glove box or locked container securely attached to the vehicle.
- Would ban the possession or carrying — open or concealed — of any assault rifles in the city. It would also ban the commercial sale of assault rifles within Memphis. People with existing permits and ownership would be grandfathered in provided they can pass a background check.
- Would allow courts to seize guns from someone who is judged to be a significant danger or extreme risk of harming someone else or themselves. Otherwise known as a red flag law or extreme-risk protection order. This question will be extremely lengthy on the ballot, with the exact process of how those weapons would be taken and returned spelled out in the text.
Measures like these have been consistently voted down in the Tennessee General Assembly, but city officials argue Memphis is in a unique position and shouldn’t have the same standard as more rural parts of the state.
In the event those questions do pass, they would lie in wait for a similar change in Tennessee state law before going into effect or it would possibly set up a lawsuit before a higher court.
You can view a sample ballot HERE.