Knoxville's elections are changing and voters will have a say: What to know

The Knoxville City Council is under a tight deadline to completely overhaul its elections because of a change in state law .

Council members decided to let voters choose whether all are elected completely at-large to represent the whole city, or whether each district alone gets to pick its representatives.

Knoxville voters will have a say in November.

Here's how Knoxville city elections work right now: Primary voters in each district select their top two candidates. Then, during the general election, voters across the city decide who gets to represent that district.

The new law says only voters in each district can elect their city council representatives.

Some legal maneuvering has to take place for the city to comply, including figuring out how to hold elections going forward.

Here's what to know.

What did the Knoxville City Council vote to do?

They opted for a system that makes the entire council at-large. Candidates must live in the geographic district they're running to represent, but voters across the city would be able to vote for every council seat in every primary and regular election.

Now the proposal will be on the November ballot.

"I want this to be the choice of the voters," Councilmember Andrew Roberto said. "Let them decide."

Council member at-large Amelia Parker was the lone opposition. She said if the city has all at-large representation, its only majority-minority district could lose its representation.

"I want us to look back on the past 50 years of history and not think Knoxville's the exception and that somehow, Knoxville doesn't need guardrails in place to protect our minority voters because somehow bias and discrimination 'just don't happen,'" Parker said.

This vote was just the first reading. The council will give its final approval Aug. 6, and could take up other changes proposed by Parker.

When will Knoxvillians vote on the election change?

If council members give their final approval in August, voters can weigh in on the change Nov. 5.

The first election under the new style, whether it's district-only or one proposed by the council, will be in August 2025.

What are voters' options?

Residents will vote whether to alter the city's charter to allow all at-large elections.

If the referendum fails, the city's election style will default to what's in the new law. That means only voters in each district will get to vote for their representatives.

Was there any opposition?

Yes. Several July 23 meeting attendees spoke out against all at-large positions. R. Bentley Marlow, a developer and former candidate, said having district-elected council members is "what's right" regardless of the state legislature's intentions.

Others, like the Rev. Harold Middlebrook and the Rev. Sam Brown, president of Knoxville's branch of the NAACP, said they want voters to have the option for at-large representation. They're confident the city will continue electing a diverse council.

"At the very least, we think the people of Knoxville should be able to choose if they want to keep something that's close to what we have now, versus something being imposed on us by legislators in Nashville," Brown told Knox News.

Activist Nzinga Bayano Amani applauded the reverends' optimism, but cautioned council members about the long-term implications of making all seats at-large.

"This further incentivizes candidates to prioritize the interest of white, middle-class developers over the interests of their own districts," Amani said.

Attendee Deidra Harper echoed Amani's concerns, saying the NAACP didn't properly survey Black voters.

Knoxville's unique election system

Knoxville’s unique system was crafted to increase minority representation, but it's set up in a way that can make it harder for Black candidates to win.

A Black candidate who wins the primary in a district dominated by minority residents could lose in a citywide election that is dominated by white voters. District 6 is the city's only one with a majority of minority residents: 43.6% of residents are Black and 13.7% are all other races or ethnicities other than white.

In 2021, that meant District 6 representative Gwen McKenzie, who is Black, could have lost her seat to Garrett Holt, who is white, despite finishing first in the District 6 primary by an overwhelming margin (she more than doubled second-place finisher Holt's total primary votes). Ultimately, McKenzie won with more than 57% of the vote.

Allie Feinberg reports on politics for Knox News. Email her: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville's elections are changing and voters will have a say: What to know