Outcome to Smith-Johnson race might not be known on election night

There's a good chance that next Tuesday we might not know who won the 13th District state House race between incumbent and Republican Eddie Smith and Democrat challenger Gloria Johnson.

That's because of the provisional ballots, which could play a deciding factor in one of the most contentious local races this cycle.

The last time these two faced on in 2014, Smith won by just under 200 votes.


"It was a very close race and it was a midterm election, so we didn't have that many people voting,” Johnson told WBIR 10News. “This time, hopefully, we'll have a lot more people voting."

If the race comes that close this time around, Knox County might not know who actually won until weeks after the election.

Provisional ballots are paper ballots that are used when officials have questions about a voter's eligibility. Those votes go to a separate pile to be investigated, and then – if the voter is determined to be eligible – counted after Election Day.

After the 2012 presidential election, the county issued 396 rejection letters for provisional ballots for a number of reasons, including identification problems, failure to register or because the person who voted was a felon.

Chris Davis, assistant administrator of elections for Knox County, said the county no longer has records of how many residents voted through provisional ballots. Under state law, the county only has to keep the records for 22 months.

However, he said anecdotally, “We know from election to election that more than half of the provisional ballots won’t be counted.”

Though more than half of all provisional ballots are usually ineligible, those votes could make all the difference for races as close as this one.

"Votes matter. People staying home can affect an election, and people choosing to skip a portion of the ballot can affect an election," said Smith.

Election officials approve step so residents can vote on marijuana law

The Knox County Election Commission on Friday agreed to give residents a chance to vote on whether to legalize recreational and medical marijuana.

The vote, though, would be symbolic only since marijuana is still illegal in Tennessee.

Steven Cooper, who is spearheading the initiative, will now have until June 15 to get about 16,100 signatures from registered Knox County voters to put the two questions on the November ballot.

One question will ask whether recreational use of marijuana by people older than 21 should be allowed in Knox County.

The other concerns use of medical marijuana.

"The children with seizures, the vets with PTSD, the people with cancer, Alzheimer’s, the list goes on and on and on. It is time people in Tennessee had access to that," said Cooper, who will shoot for 20,000 signatures for each petition.

Chris Davis, assistant administrator of elections for the Knox County Election Commission, said his office will keep in regular contact with Cooper.

Davis said training, hiring “and putting people in a room for weeks on end to count signatures” will cost the county about $25,000.

Election officials said they want the ballot complete some time in September.

Cooper said Friday that he will begin collecting signatures this weekend.