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Elections - Historical Notes

Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

Districts - Reapportionment

The act listed below once affected the civil districts in Fayette County, but is no longer operative regarding elections.

  1. Acts of 1835-36, Chapter 1, required the General Assembly by Resolution to appoint Commissioners to lay off every county in the State into Civil Districts, the number of Civil Districts being dependent upon the population of qualified voters in the respective county.  In Fayette County those named to lay off the county were Daniel Johnson, Spencer Jackson, John Blackwell, William Garrant, and Richard B. Jarman.

Elections

The following is a listing of acts for Fayette County which affected the elective process, but which have been superseded or repealed.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

  1. Acts of 1824, Chapter 1, established eleven Presidential Electoral Districts in Tennessee of which the Eleventh District was made up of the counties of Wayne, Hardin, Perry, and all the counties west of the Tennessee River.  The election would occur on the first Thursday and Friday in November, 1824.
  2. Acts of 1826, Chapter 3, apportioned the State for representation in the General Assembly into 20 Senatorial Districts and 40 Representative Districts.  The counties of Haywood, Madison, Tipton, Hardeman, Fayette, and Shelby constituted one Senatorial District whose polls would be compared at Bolivar in Hardeman County.  One Representative would be elected by the counties of McNairy, Hardeman, Fayette, Shelby and Tipton, jointly.
  3. Acts of 1827, Chapter 17, divided Tennessee into eleven U.S. Presidential Electoral Districts, allocating the counties of Henry, Weakley, Obion, Carroll, Gibson, Dyer, Henderson, Madison, Haywood, Tipton, McNairy, Hardeman, Fayette, and Shelby to the 11th District.
  4. Acts of 1832, Chapter 4, established 13 U.S. Congressional Districts in the State.  The 13th U.S. Congressional District consisted of the counties of Perry, Henderson, McNairy, Hardeman, Fayette, Shelby, and Tipton.
  5. Acts of 1832, Chapter 9, set up 15 Presidential Electoral Districts in Tennessee.  The 14th District contained the counties of Hardeman, Hardin, Henderson, McNairy, Madison, Fayette, and Shelby.
  6. Acts of 1833, Chapter 71, designated the counties of Hardeman, Fayette, Shelby, and Tipton as one State Senatorial District whose votes would be counted and compared at Somerville, and the counties of Fayette and Shelby would jointly elect one of the 40 State Representatives in the General Assembly.
  7. Acts of 1833, Chapter 76, provided for a call of a Constitutional Convention of 60 delegates who would be elected on the first Thursday and Friday in March next, and those elected as delegates would meet in Nashville on the third Monday in May, next, to revise, amend, alter the present, or form a new, Constitution for the State.  Fayette County would elect one Delegate to the Convention alone.
  8. Acts of 1835-36, Chapter 39, organized Tennessee into 15 Presidential Electoral Districts and assigned the counties of Hardeman, Hardin, Henderson, McNairy, Madison, Fayette, and Shelby to the 14th Electoral District.
  9. Acts of 1842, Chapter 1, divided Tennessee into 25 Senatorial Districts and 50 Representative Districts in the General Assembly.  The 25th Senatorial District was made up of the counties of Hardeman, Fayette, and Shelby with the polls to be counted in Somerville.  Fayette County would elect one Representative alone and share another with Hardeman and Shelby counties.
  10. Acts of 1842, Chapter 7, formed eleven U.S. Congressional Districts in the State, placing the counties of McNairy, Hardeman, Fayette, Shelby, Tipton, Haywood, Lauderdale, and Dyer in the 10th Congressional District.
  11. Acts of 1851-52, Chapter 196, set up 10 U.S. Congressional Districts in the State.  The Tenth District was composed of the counties of Madison, Haywood, Hardeman, Fayette and Shelby.
  12. Acts of 1851-52, Chapter 197, apportioned the State for representation in the State Legislature.  Fayette County would elect one Representative alone and share a floater with Tipton and Shelby counties.  Fayette and Shelby Counties constituted one Senatorial District whose votes would be tallied at Samuel Leaks in Shelby County.
  13. Acts of 1853-54, Chapter 151, Section 2, stated that the polls for the floating Representative for the counties of Tipton, Fayette, and Shelby would be compared at the house of Colonel Samuel C. Leaks in Shelby County.
  14. Acts of 1865-66, Chapter 34, was a post Civil War act establishing 8 U.S. Congressional Districts in Tennessee.  The 8th U.S. Congressional District comprised the counties of McNairy, Hardeman, Fayette, Shelby, Tipton, Madison, and Haywood.
  15. Acts of 1869-70, Chapter 105, authorized a referendum election to be held across the State on the question of calling a Constitutional Convention to amend, revise, or form and make a new State Constitution.  The Ballot would be marked simply "For" or "Against".  The Convention would have 75 delegates and each county would have the same number of delegates as they had representatives.  The delegates elected would convene in Nashville on the second Monday in January, 1870.
  16. Acts of 1871, Chapter 146, reapportioned the State for the General Assembly.  Fayette County would elect one Representative alone and share another with Obion, Lake, and Shelby Counties.  Of the 25 Senatorial Districts, the 23rd was made up of the counties of Shelby, Fayette, and Tipton.
  17. Acts of 1872, Chapter 7, organized Tennessee into nine U.S. Congressional Districts and the Ninth contained the counties of Shelby, Tipton, Fayette, and Hardeman.
  18. Acts of 1873, Chapter 27, separated the State into ten U.S. Congressional Districts of which the Tenth District was composed of the counties of Shelby, Fayette, and Hardeman.
  19. Acts of 1881 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 5, made the number of Senators in the General Assembly to be 33 and the number of Representatives in the House to be 99, both to be permanently fixed at that figure.
  20. Acts of 1881 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 6, reapportioned the State to conform to the new numerical quantity of Senators and Representatives:  of the 99 Representatives, Fayette County would elect one alone and share a floater with Hardeman County, and Fayette and Tipton Counties constituted one State Senatorial District.
  21. Acts of 1882, Chapter 27, delineated ten U.S. Congressional Districts in the State of Tennessee.  Hardeman, Fayette, Shelby, and Tipton Counties made up the 10th U.S. Congressional District.
  22. Acts of 1891, Chapter 131, apportioned Tennessee according to the 1890 Census for representation in the U.S. Congress.  There were ten Congressional Districts and the 10th contained the same four counties as before, Shelby, Fayette, Hardeman, and Tipton.
  23. Acts of 1891 (Ex. Sess.), Chapter 10, organized the General Assembly into Districts according to the 1890 Census.  Of the 99 Representatives Fayette County would elect two alone and share another one with Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood, Shelby, and Hardeman.  Fayette County and Tipton County made up the 31st State Senatorial District.
  24. Acts of 1901, Chapter 109, created ten U.S. Congressional Districts, allocating to the 10th Congressional District the counties of Shelby, Hardeman, Tipton, and Fayette.
  25. Acts of 1901, Chapter 122, was the last act to apportion the General Assembly of the State for the next 65 years, or more.  Haywood County and Fayette County combined to make up the 31st State Senatorial District.  Fayette County would elect one Representative alone and share a floater with Shelby County.
  26. Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 635, which became law without the Governor's signature, amended Acts of 1901, Chapter 109, by detaching Fayette County from the 10th U.S. Congressional District and attaching it to the 8th U.S. Congressional District.
  27. Private Acts of 1939, Chapter 304, stated that the families of George Laster, Woodrow Jackson, E. F. Collins, Hays Fowler, E. C. Cravins, and R. H. Galey, all of whom resided and voted in the 10th Civil District of Fayette County would thereafter be permitted to vote in the 23rd Civil District in all National, State and County elections, so long as they maintained their residence as it was.
  28. Private Acts of 1941, Chapter 170, declared that no person could vote in any general, special, called, or compulsory election in Fayette County unless such person was previously registered as a qualified voter in the said county.  Registration in such counties would take place every four years.