---
type: "Bill"
title: "Election Laws - As enacted, authorizes Hamblen County to participate in the convenience voting center pilot project. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 3, Part 3."
description: "Election Laws - As enacted, authorizes Hamblen County to participate in the convenience voting center pilot project. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 3, Part 3."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "114"
identifier: "SB 981"
citation: "Tennessee SB 981 (114)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Election Laws"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Southerland"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 20
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-02-05"
last_action: "2025-05-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bcd458d3-fd45-471c-84b1-747b61910535"
source_url: "https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=SB0981&ga=114"
source_hash: "23e6554c7afd1286acff7c3bbb5ffa5ac06f3155b67a54f2154bb0e89c8e5d02"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee SB 981 (114) — Election Laws - As enacted, authorizes Hamblen County to participate in the convenience voting center pilot project. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 3, Part 3.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB0981.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 4/2/2025 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 4/7/2025 Passed (1) — **31–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Southerland — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-02-05** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2025-02-10** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2025-02-12** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-26** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 4/1/2025
- **2025-04-01** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 4/2/2025
- **2025-04-01** Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 4/2/2025
- **2025-04-02** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2025-04-04** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 4/7/2025
- **2025-04-07** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House `receipt`
- **2025-04-07** Passed Senate, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2025-04-09** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2025-04-16** Passed H., Ayes 96, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2025-04-16** Subst. for comp. HB. `substitution`
- **2025-04-22** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2025-04-22** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2025-04-22** Enrolled and ready for signatures `enrolled`
- **2025-04-23** Transmitted to Governor for action. `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-05** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-13** Effective date(s) 05/05/2025
- **2025-05-13** Pub. Ch. 384

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bcd458d3-fd45-471c-84b1-747b61910535`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).