---
type: "Bill"
title: "Election Laws - As enacted, prescribes procedure for paper ballots in counties using optical scan voting systems and procedure for provisional ballots. - Amends TCA Section 2-7-114(c)."
description: "Election Laws - As enacted, prescribes procedure for paper ballots in counties using optical scan voting systems and procedure for provisional ballots. - Amends TCA Section 2-7-114(c)."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "110"
identifier: "SB 2638"
citation: "Tennessee SB 2638 (110)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Election Laws"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Carter", "Watson"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 35
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2018-02-01"
last_action: "2018-04-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/708b962a-6008-41db-84a8-805b1fb4704b"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB2638&GA=110"
source_hash: "45b612360a6624f0d490fd77c32c1989d2441c64cb5ad73a25a55805736443a0"
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 2638 (110) — Election Laws - As enacted, prescribes procedure for paper ballots in counties using optical scan voting systems and procedure for provisional ballots. - Amends TCA Section 2-7-114(c).

## Version chain

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

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/110/Bill/SB2638.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 2/27/2018 Passed — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/4/2018 PASSED (1) — **85–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/8/2018 PASSED (1) — **30–0** (fail) · upper

## Sponsors

- Carter — primary (person)
- Watson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-02-01** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2018-02-01** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-02-01** Filed for intro. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-02-01** Intro. `introduction`
- **2018-02-05** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee
- **2018-02-05** P1C.
- **2018-02-07** Assigned to s/c Local Government Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-07** P2C, ref. to Local Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-16** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 2/20/2018
- **2018-02-20** Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 2/27/2018
- **2018-02-21** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 2/27/2018
- **2018-02-27** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2018-03-06** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar calendar for 3/8/2018
- **2018-03-08** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2018-03-08** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 30, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2018-03-08** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0653)
- **2018-03-12** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2018-03-14** Placed on s/c cal Local Government Subcommittee for 3/21/2018
- **2018-03-21** Placed on cal. Local Government Committee for 3/27/2018
- **2018-03-21** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Local Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-27** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-03-28** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/29/2018
- **2018-03-29** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/4/2018
- **2018-04-04** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2018-04-04** Passed H., Ayes 85, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2018-04-04** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA1036) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2018-04-04** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2018-04-04** Comp. SB subst.
- **2018-04-05** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2018-04-05** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2018-04-06** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2018-04-18** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-04-23** Pub. Ch. 749
- **2018-04-23** Effective date(s) 05/02/2018
- **2018-04-23** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 749

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/708b962a-6008-41db-84a8-805b1fb4704b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).