republic-os/legislation/us/states/tn/112/sb-1315.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Election Laws - As enacted, enacts the \"Tennessee Election Integrity Act,\" which requires that absentee ballots, other than ballots authorized by state or federal law to be delivered electronically to qualified voters who are entitled to vote by absentee ballot, include a watermark approved by the coordinator of elections; requires a counting board official to verify that the absentee ballots contain the watermark and reject any ballot that does not bear the watermark. - Amends TCA Title 2; Title 3; Title 4; Title 8; Title 16 and Title 17."
description: "Election Laws - As enacted, enacts the \"Tennessee Election Integrity Act,\" which requires that absentee ballots, other than ballots authorized by state or federal law to be delivered electronically to qualified voters who are entitled to vote by absentee ballot, include a watermark approved by the coordinator of elections; requires a counting board official to verify that the absentee ballots contain the watermark and reject any ballot that does not bear the watermark. - Amends TCA Title 2; Title 3; Title 4; Title 8; Title 16 and Title 17."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 1315"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1315 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Election Laws"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Griffey", "Hensley"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 52
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-02-11"
last_action: "2021-05-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c238af74-9233-4323-89a0-ff87a8d5dcf7"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1315&GA=112"
source_hash: "061538ec7c756febf29bd4af4ac7f762b6c827e370266c4e3a9d73b41eae10ae"
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 1315 (112) — Election Laws - As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Election Integrity Act," which requires that absentee ballots, other than ballots authorized by state or federal law to be delivered electronically to qualified voters who are entitled to vote by absentee ballot, include a watermark approved by the coordinator of elections; requires a counting board official to verify that the absentee ballots contain the watermark and reject any ballot that does not bear the watermark. - Amends TCA Title 2; Title 3; Title 4; Title 8; Title 16 and Title 17.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0321** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0321.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0286** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0286.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB1315.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 4/26/2021 Passed (1) — **27–0** (pass) · upper
- SENATE STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 4/13/2021 Passed (2) — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/27/2021 Passed (1) — **92–1** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE ELECTIONS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Local Government Committee 3/17/2021 — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 4/13/2021 (5) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/26/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/27/2021 4/26/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE FINANCE, WAYS, AND MEANS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee 4/21/2021 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Griffey — primary (person)
- Hensley — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-11** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-11** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-11** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-22** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee
- **2021-02-22** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-24** Assigned to s/c Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-24** P2C, ref. to Local Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-03** Placed on s/c cal Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee for 3/10/2021
- **2021-03-10** Placed on s/c cal Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee for 3/17/2021
- **2021-03-10** Action Def. in s/c Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee to 3/17/2021
- **2021-03-17** Placed on cal. Local Government Committee for 3/23/2021
- **2021-03-17** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Local Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-23** Action def. in Local Government Committee to 3/30/2021
- **2021-03-24** Placed on cal. Local Government Committee for 3/30/2021
- **2021-03-30** Action def. in Local Government Committee to 4/6/2021
- **2021-03-31** Placed on cal. Local Government Committee for 4/6/2021
- **2021-04-05** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 4/6/2021
- **2021-04-06** Reset on Final calendar of Senate State and Local Government Committee
- **2021-04-06** Returned to the Clerk's Desk.
- **2021-04-07** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 4/13/2021
- **2021-04-07** Placed on cal. Local Government Committee for 4/13/2021
- **2021-04-07** Ref. to Local Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-13** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 1
- **2021-04-13** Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-13** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-14** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-14** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/21/2021
- **2021-04-14** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-21** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/26/2021
- **2021-04-21** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-23** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/26/2021
- **2021-04-26** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-26** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 27, Nays 0, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2021-04-26** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0286)
- **2021-04-26** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2021-04-26** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2021-04-26** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/27/2021
- **2021-04-26** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/26/2021
- **2021-04-26** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-27** Passed H., Ayes 92, Nays 1, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-04-27** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0321) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2021-04-27** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2021-04-27** Comp. SB subst.
- **2021-04-27** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-28** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-04-28** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2021-04-30** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-05-03** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2021-05-11** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-18** Effective date(s) 01/01/2022
- **2021-05-18** Pub. Ch. 374
- **2021-05-18** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 374

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c238af74-9233-4323-89a0-ff87a8d5dcf7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).