The Cannon County Election Commission will meet today and the election of a new chairman is on the agenda.The current chairman, Matt Studd, was not named to the local commission by the State Election Commission when it made appointments earlier this month.
The State Election Commission notified Matt Teply, Cannon County of Administrator of Elections, of the five members appointed to the local commission.
They are:
• Dottie Jernigan Baskin, Republican
• Thomas W. Ganoe, Republican
• George Ronnie Orville Pittman, Republican
• Joan Banks-Shirley, Democrat
• Sue H. Patrick, Democrat
Baskin is the only new member of the local commission.
The State Election Commission is composed of seven members: four from the political party holding a majority of seats in the Tennessee General Assembly and three from the minority party. These individuals are elected for a term of four years. This is the only commission in Tennessee state government which is elected wholly by the Tennessee General Assembly.
To be eligible to serve on the State Election Commission one must be at least 25 years old, a resident of Tennessee for at least seven years, and a resident of the grand division of the state from which one seeks election for at least four years preceding the election. No more than any two members may be from the same grand division of the state.
The State Election Commission is responsible for appointing five county election commissioners for every county in the state. This is done on the first Monday in April in every odd-numbered year. After making such appointments, the state commissioners then monitor the activities and performance of the county election commissioners and shall remove a county election commissioner for violation of the oath of office or if that person is no longer qualified to hold the position.
Meeting Agenda for the Cannon County Election Commission Reorganization is this afternoon at 5:30 in the Election Commission office on Main Street.
