Where Hawkins County residents who live in Kingsport city limits should early vote

CHURCH HILL, Tenn. (WJHL) – On the first day of early voting , the City of Kingsport heard questions about where Hawkins County residents who live in Kingsport should go to vote.

Those residents can early vote at the Clay Masonic Lodge in Church Hill or the Hawkins County Courthouse in Rogersville. They will not vote at the Civic Auditorium in Kingsport or any other Sullivan County polling sites.

Sullivan County Administrator of Elections Jason Booher said those voters will still have Kingsport races on their ballots.

“So, for example, a voter in Hawkins County who also resides in Kingsport would vote during early voting at the locations that they’re eligible to do so in Hawkins county,” Booher said. “And because they reside in Kingsport, they’ll receive the Kingsport offices on their ballot in addition to the Hawkins county races.”

Booher also said Sullivan County residents who live in Johnson City will vote in Sullivan County.

Therefore, whatever county you live in decides where you’ll vote.

Booher said, for example, some in the Allandale area in Kingsport will vote in Hawkins County.

Cheryl Battaglia, Church Hill officer of early elections, said there are not that many Kingsport residents who live in Hawkins County. However, she said voting has been historically confusing for them.

“It’s the way the district and the school district and the county, the way that those are all subdivided differently,” Battaglia said. “So there’s no consistency with that subdivision and that’s where the confusion lies.”

Battaglia said there have been less than 10 Kingsport voters at the Church Hill site on the first day of early voting.

“We cover the entire county for the election, so it doesn’t matter what precinct you live in, you can vote either in Rogersville or Church Hill.”

For those residents who live in both, on election day on August 1, instead of going to the Church Hill or Rogersville Location, they’ll go to their designated polling site.

To find out where those locations are, you can call your county’s election commission or visit their website. You can also find out on Tennessee’s election website .

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