DA Mulroy Issues Warning About Unofficial Sample Ballots
Shelby County, TN —As Shelby County prepares for another election season, District Attorney Steve Mulroy encourages voters to carefully examine any sample ballot they receive and verify who produced it.
It’s common practice for both the Shelby County Democratic and Republican Parties to distribute official sample ballots identifying the candidates they have endorsed. However, in past election cycles, independently produced sample ballots that closely resembled the parties' official versions have created confusion among voters. This confusion is compounded when workers paid to distribute these ballots at voting locations call them, for example, “the official Democratic ballot” — a sadly common practice in recent elections.
To help prevent confusion before early voting begins, DA Mulroy recently sent letters to organizations that may distribute election materials, warning them that Tennessee law makes it a crime to intentionally deceive voters with such ballots, and asking them to clearly distinguish their voter guides from the political parties’ official sample ballots.
For example, the “Memphis Democratic Club” is not affiliated with the Shelby County Democratic Party. Combining “Memphis” or “Shelby County” with the word “Democratic” and a donkey logo can cause real voter confusion. Adding a disclaimer, like “Not affiliated with the Shelby County Republican Party,” can help avoid such confusion.
“Our elections only work with an adequately informed electorate,” said DA Steve Mulroy. “Purveyors of paid ‘endorsement ballots’ should be on notice that fooling voters regarding who’s really behind the ballot is against the law and will be punished. Voters should be on notice that they need to scrutinize any sample ballot they get to make sure they understand just who is actually doing the endorsing.”
By taking a moment to confirm the source of election materials, voters can make informed decisions with confidence and help preserve the integrity of the electoral process.