Tennessee voter turnout was huge for the 2026 midterm election. Unofficial results from the Secretary of State show 2,102,474 votes cast in the governor’s race as of Nov. 5, about 21 percent more than in 2022.
“Tennessee voters showed up, and that’s people power,” said Miriam R. Nemeth, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee. “Decades of policy left Tennessee voters disenfranchised, disillusioned, and disengaged, but in 2026, Tennesseans showed us they’re determined.”
Frustration over the Tennessee legislature’s rushed redistricting of congressional seats helped drive turnout. ACLU-TN and our supporters challenged the congressional map that split Memphis three ways and moved more than one million Tennessee voters into new congressional districts. Legislators redrew the map in May. We took them to court throughout the summer. And Tennesseans took their protest to the polls in the fall.
ACLU-TN thanks the poll workers and county election officials across the state who kept polling places running smoothly. We also thank the partners in our statewide Election Protection coalition, including OrganizeTN, Votes for All, The Equity Alliance, Forward Tennessee, CivicTN, Tennessee For All, and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
Throughout election season, we promoted 866-OUR-VOTE, the nonpartisan Election Protection hotline staffed during early voting and Election Day. We brought Tennesseans together at postcard parties across the state, at our Party at the Polls in Memphis, and Civic Soundcheck, a community forum at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville. Online, Tennesseans searching for information turned to our Election HQ and voter education resources 99,954 times, according to our recent page views. More than 56,000 people used our voter guides. Our staff and volunteers also did their part to boost turnout. Across Tennessee, we sent 4,058 handwritten postcards, distributed 45,652 mailers, texted more than 24,000 get-out-the-vote messages, and made 19,410 calls to voters.
Now that voters have cast their ballots, the next step is certification. Tennessee county election commissions must certify results no later than the third Monday after the election, Nov. 23. Then, the Secretary of State and top state officials combine the results from all 95 counties and officially declare the statewide winners. Once votes are lawfully cast, carefully counted, and properly certified, elected officials must respect the results. ACLU-TN looks forward to a smooth and orderly certification that honors every eligible vote.
About ACLU-TN: The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) is an affiliate of the national ACLU. For more than 50 years, ACLU-TN has worked to defend the principles of liberty, equality, and justice guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. Learn more at www.aclu-tn.org.