NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Some Tennessee lawmakers are hoping to make all elections in Tennessee partisan, including statewide and municipal elections. They also want to reform the voter registration system to require voters to declare a political affiliation. Here are the bills legislators will consider that deal with partisanship in state and local elections.

HB0262/SB0405: Requires state and local elections for public office to be partisan elections; requires judges who are required by this state’s constitution to be reelected at retention elections to declare a bona fide membership with a political party or independent status at least 230 days prior to a retention election.

HB0274/SB1483: Requires candidates for elective office who are unaffiliated with a statewide political party to disclose their unaffiliated status on sample or informational ballots used for campaigning purposes.

HB0405/SB0452: Prescribes a process by which a person must declare a statewide political party or recognized minor party affiliation before voting in a primary election; designates unaffiliated registered voters as independents who have not affiliated with a political party prior to the primary election in August of 2024.

HB0561/SB1512: Specifies that municipal elections can be partisan or nonpartisan.

HB0636/SB0598: Allows a person who is excluded as a candidate from a primary ballot based on a determination that the person is not a bona fide member of the political party to qualify as an independent candidate if the nominating petition is filed within seven calendar days of the final determination of the exclusion.

HB1045/SB1144: Requires each voter to declare a political party affiliation or that the voter is unaffiliated with a political party on voter registration; authorizes political parties to allow unaffiliated voters to vote in that political party’s primary.