Administrator of Elections
Rutherford County
“I [am] the first in my family to enter the political arena,” said Alan Farley, Administrator of Elections for Rutherford County. “However, my father was always engaged in the election process, so I learned a lot from him.”
Farley was born and raised in Murfreesboro. He is a product of the Murfreesboro City School and Rutherford County School systems. He attended Mitchell-Neilson Elementary School, Central Middle School and graduated from Oakland High School. Continuing his education in the city, he earned a Bachelors in Business Administration degree from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).
“Growing up in Murfreesboro was the best,” noted Farley. “It was a small town where you knew everyone. I played youth sports at Oakland’s Park and Old Fort Park. We had two high schools, and you knew everyone in your class at both schools. If you ever did anything mischievous in town, it beat you home in most cases. I love the new restaurants and businesses here today, but I yearn for the small town feel of Rutherford County in the 70’s and 80’s. I have had several opportunities to leave, but always chose to stay and serve here at home.”
Spending most of his adult life in public service, Farley has worked extensively on political campaigns and fundraising, working on the staff at all levels of campaigns. These include the presidential campaign for George W. Bush in 2000, the United States Senate campaigns for Senator Fred Thompson in 1994 and 1996, the campaign for United States Congressman Ed Bryant in 2002 and the Bryant congressional campaigns.
“I was the youngest serving election commissioner to ever be appointed on the Rutherford County election commission from 1991 through 2002,” said Farley. “I also spent 10 years of my career as the Associate Athletic Director for Fundraising and Development at MTSU. It was an honor to play a large role in the success of Middle Tennessee Athletics, breaking fundraising records each year I was at there.”
When the position of Administrator of Elections became vacant in 2014, he was asked to consider running for the position by several community leaders due to his extensive background and experience with elections. He was voted into the position by the election commission July 2014.
During his tenure, he has been able to lead the efforts to establish Convenient Vote Centers in Tennessee. This made Rutherford County the first county in the state to offer this method of voting. It has been a huge success.
“My goal as the Administrator is to conduct open, fair, honest and secure elections,” said Farley. “I take pride in being a leader within our state election community in achieving, for the third consecutive year in a row, recognition as the number one state in the country in election integrity.”
Recently, Farley was asked to testify as an expert witness before the United States Senate to give a local front-line perspective on how elections are conducted and what role he felt the federal government should play. The majority of the committee he testified before wanted a top-down federal approach to conducting elections. His testimony was centered on elections being a states right matter and that they should be left up to the states to determine what is best for that state.
“Being asked to testify before the U.S. Senate was a tremendous opportunity to represent my county, state and my profession,” said Farley. “I had spent some time working in Washington, D.C., but testifying as an expert witness was very different…[I feel that] not every voting jurisdiction has the same issues or concerns and should be left up to itself on how best to conduct elections. The other witnesses on the panel were Secretary of States from Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nebraska. They had more of a macro approach.”
One of the topics under discussion while Farley was testifying was physical threats that election workers have experienced in other states during the 2020 and 2022 elections. According to an article on tennesseeoutlook.com, Farley said his workers have not experienced physical threats and the issue has not affected his office’s recruitment efforts.
“At a recent event for about 250 election workers to discuss the 2024 presidential cycle, some who worked the 2020 and 2022 elections were ‘eager to return,’” he told the committee according to tennesseeoutlook.com. “Threats to election officials were never mentioned during the event.”
He notes that local elections are conducted by friends and neighbors; people seen at community events, at work, at church or watching their kids play sports.
“It takes hundreds of people to serve and conduct our elections,” explained Farley. “Rutherford County is blessed to have some of the best citizens that step forward each election to serve. I am truly blessed to have the best election staff in the country to work with. Each of our team members strive daily to serve the voters in our county. I would put them up against anyone else in the nation. They are dedicated and loyal servants to our community.”
In the tennesseeoutlook.com article, Farley did say that cybersecurity challenges were real and that the state could use federal funding to address them. He was concerned that small counties who could not “adequately fund” IT departments could especially use federal support to fight off hackers.
Early voting is one of the positive changes that Farley has seen during his tenure as Administrator of Elections for Rutherford County. In 2016, 110,000 citizens of the county voted in the November election. By 2020, that number rose to 144,000 citizens. Farley estimates 163,000 people will vote in the November 2024 election. While he has heard some express concerns that early votes are not counted, he ensures that they are counted!
“I cast my vote early each election,” shared Farley. “I encourage people to vote early as this gives [them] ample time to vote, whereas waiting until election day something could occur and keep [them] from voting. In November 2020, we had 83% of our total votes cast during early voting. That is an extremely high percentage, and I hope we see it again this year.”
There is still time to register to vote in the presidential election on November 5, 2024. Any United States citizen that is at least 18 years of age and is a resident of Rutherford County can register to vote in the county.
“Those wishing to vote can register online at www.GoVoteTN.gov, in person at our office [at One Public Square, Suite 103 in Murfreesboro] or they can register at a state agency such as the Tennessee Department of Safety [or the] Department of Health,” said Farley. Any person new to the county must register to vote in the county. If they moved from another county within Tennessee, they still need to register to vote in Rutherford County. Voter registrations do NOT transfer from county to county. The deadline to register for the November election is October 7, 2024.
“Don’t wait until the last minute,” said Farley, “get your registration in now if you haven’t registered yet. Both www.GoVoteTN.gov and www.ruco.vote are excellent resources to gather election information. They give voters important dates, times and locations where to vote. They also give the criteria on how to vote by-mail absentee. With misinformation running rampant in today’s world, make sure you use a trusted verified source for your information like these [sites].”