BLOUNTVILLE -- Sullivan County voters eligible to cast absentee ballots for the upcoming presidential election can start requesting them from the Sullivan County Election Commission.
On Tuesday, members of the commission officially locked the absentee ballot box where cast absentee ballots will be stored, as they are mailed in by voters, until Election Day.
For those not already registered, Oct. 8 is the last day to do so and be eligible to vote on Nov. 6.
In other business Tuesday, the Election Commission unanimously certified the results of Aug. 2 elections, which included a county general election and party primaries for local and state offices on the Nov. 6 ballot.
There were no outcome changes in the results as certified, compared to unofficial results released by the Election Commission after close of polls on Aug. 2.
Absentee ballots made all the difference in one key race on Aug. 2 -- state Rep. Tony Shipley had an 11-vote margin over challenger Ben Mallicote in the GOP primary for the 2nd District House seat held by Shipley. Mallicote carried early voting and election day voting, but Shipley held a wider margin over Mallicote in absentee balloting.
Shipley received 3,405 votes to Mallicote's 3,394.
Shipley lost the election day popular vote to Mallicote but garnered 91 absentee votes compared to Mallicote's 36.
Shipley will face Democrat Bruce Dotson in the November general election. The 2nd House District includes parts of Kingsport and Sullivan County.
Tennessee law allows a candidate or incumbent to contest party primary results -- directly with the party in question. Such a contest must be filed within five days of the Election Commission's certification of results.