Dolly Parton’s Sister Claims Nashville-Area Voting Machine Flipped Her Ballot to GOP Candidate Marsha Blackburn: ‘I Kept Punching for the Democrat!’

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Dolly Parton’s younger sister Stella Parton raised serious allegations about voting near Nashville, Tennessee, Tuesday.

“In Tennessee last week at the Hermitage Library where I voted, I had to go back three times and correct my vote because it kept defaulting to Marsha Blackburn,” Stella wrote on Facebook. “I would never vote for her for anything. I’m putting this out here because when we vote, we take it seriously but we try not to hold up the long lines. Do it anyway. Don’t let them rig this election.”

Stella added, “And we have people asking why we’re so angry. I’m more frightened and frustrated than angry.”

Hermitage is roughly a 15-20 minute drive from the heart of Nashville, and both cities are in Davidson County.

Mediaite has sent requests for comment to Stella Parton, the Tennessee State Election Commission and state representatives.

Stella isn’t the only voter in Tennessee that has expressed concern about the state’s voting process.

On October 20 WSMV Nashville reported at least two other people in nearby Williamson County experienced similar issues while attempting to cast their votes.

“I kept punching for the Democrat, Jerri Green, and it kept punching back to Marsha Blackburn,” Jackie Herrud told WSMV. “It just really kind of irritated me, and then I was very nervous about making sure that my vote was going to be counted right.”

Herrud, who voted at the Longview Recreation Center in neighboring Spring Hill, Tennessee, also said “she spoke with poll workers who had heard of similar complaints,” the news station reported.

The social media account for The Tennessee Holler also shared Herrud’s story. Comments on the post indicated similar stories are circulating in Texas.

The troubling anecdotes come as Nashville is experiencing voter turnout that’s 15 times higher than the 2022 midterms. That increase in voters is likely due to the state’s contentious gubernatorial race between Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R) and Memphis City Councilmember Jerri Green (D).

Claims of machines flipping votes have dogged multiple elections. Texas election officials denied allegations of vote flipping in 2024, and similar allegations were raised in Tennessee and Georgia. Election officials from Tarrant County, Texas, reported one instance of voter machine irregularity out of 58,000 ballots cast on the first day of early voting.

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