In states still using the electric chair to execute people, the prisoner is allowed the choice of lethal injection as an alternative method if they specify after their conviction.
Execution by electrocution , performed using an electric chair , is a method of execution originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg . Although the electric chair has long been a symbol of the death penalty in the United States , its use is in decline due to the rise of lethal injection , which is widely believed to be a more humane method of execution . Although some states still maintain electrocution as a method of execution , today it is only maintained as a secondary method that may be chosen over lethal injection at the request of the prisoner , except in Tennessee where it may be used if the drugs for lethal injection are not available , without input from the prisoner . They allow the prisoner to choose lethal injection as an alternative method .