(a) Any referendum held under this chapter shall be conducted statewide, under the control and direction of the commissioner. The polling place in each county shall be the offices of the University of Tennessee agriculture extension service. All ballots shall be provided at the polling place. All voting shall be by secret ballot.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 43-29-108

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Agriculture: means :
    (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture. See Tennessee Code 43-29-103
  • Commodity: means beef, corn, pork, and eggs, produced on a commercial basis. See Tennessee Code 43-29-103
  • Corn: means all kinds of varieties of corn except popcorn, sweet corn, and ornamental corns. See Tennessee Code 43-29-103
  • Department: means the department of agriculture. See Tennessee Code 43-29-103
  • Person: means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative or other business. See Tennessee Code 43-29-103
  • Producer: means any person who produces a commodity and thereafter causes the commodity to be marketed. See Tennessee Code 43-29-103
  • Referendum: means any voting procedure under which affected producers may, by secret ballot, vote for or against an assessment authorized by this chapter. See Tennessee Code 43-29-103
  • Vote: means to cast a ballot on a referendum. See Tennessee Code 43-29-103
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Each person seeking to vote in the referendum shall be required to file an affidavit stating that such person is a producer. Upon signing an affidavit, such person shall be eligible to vote.

(1) The question to be decided at the first referendum for an assessment on beef, pork, or eggs shall be in the following form:

Shall the producers of ____________________ assess themselves at the rate of ____________________ cents per ____________________ of ____________________ sold, and use the funds so collected by the department of agriculture, or the department’s contractor or designee, and paid over to the Tennessee ____________________ promotion board to finance a program of research, education, market development, marketing, advertising, and other methods designed to promote the increased production, consumption, use, and sale of ____________________ products?

(2) The question to be decided at the first referendum for an assessment on corn shall be in the following form:

Shall the producers of corn assess themselves at the rate of one cent ($0.01) per bushel of corn sold, and use the funds so collected by the department of agriculture, or the department’s contractor or designee, and paid over to the Tennessee corn promotion board to finance a program of research, education, market development, marketing, advertising, and other methods designed to promote the increased production, consumption, use, and sale of corn products?

(3) The affirmative vote of the majority of the number of votes cast shall adopt the proposed assessment.
(c) Within ten (10) days after the referendum, the commissioner shall canvass the votes and publicly announce the result of the referendum.
(d) The expenses of a referendum held under this chapter shall be paid by the department until an assessment is levied. Expenses of subsequent referenda shall be paid from the promotion funds collected under this chapter.
(e) No referendum pursuant to this chapter shall be held within one (1) year of any preceding referendum for that particular commodity except as provided in § 43-29-112.
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