Tennessee

Tennessee: Divide over voting equipment in Shelby County | Joyce Peterson/WMC

The clock is ticking for Shelby County to order new voting equipment, but the two groups tasked with getting it done still don’t see eye to eye on which kind of voting machines to buy. Mark Luttrell, the former sheriff and mayor of Shelby County, now heads the Shelby County Election Commission. Job one, he told Action News 5, is to get this done. “We are woefully, woefully inadequate when it comes to this,” he said, “If there’s been any voter suppression in Shelby County, it’s because we don’t have up-to-date equipment. It’s just not efficient.” Even with a short ballot and low voter turnout, final results in Tuesday’s primary took several hours to tabulate. “It’s taking longer,” said Shelby County Administrator of Elections Linda Phillips, “because our equipment is old. With every election, it gets a little slower. It gets a little harder.”

Full Article: Divide over voting equipment in Shelby County

Tennessee prosecutor drops all charges against Pamela Moses, jailed over voting error | Sam Levine/The Guardian

A Memphis prosecutor has dropped all criminal charges against Pamela Moses, the Memphis woman who was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register to vote. Moses was convicted last year and sentenced in January. She was granted a new trial in February after the Guardian published a document showing that had not been given to her defense ahead of the trial. Moses was set to appear in court on Monday to find out whether prosecutors would pursue a retrial. The central issue in her case was whether she had known she was ineligible to vote when a probation officer filled out and signed a form indicating she was done with probation for a 2015 felony conviction and eligible to cast a ballot. Even though the probation officer admitted he had made a mistake, and Moses said she had no idea she was ineligible to vote, prosecutors said she knew she was ineligible and had deceived him. Moses stood in the lobby of the probation office while the officer went to his office to research her case for about an hour, he said at trial.

Full Article: Prosecutor drops all charges against Pamela Moses, jailed over voting error | Tennessee | The Guardian

Tennessee: Here’s why Williamson County is switching to new voting machines after state review | Cole Villena/Nashville Tennessean

Williamson County will use new voting machines in its 2022 election cycle following vote tabulation discrepancies found during the October election. The discrepancies did not affect the final vote tally of those elections, which were verified through a hand count. “The primary concern that we have at the Williamson County Election Commission is that elections are held with fidelity and transparency, and that voters would have confidence in the results,” said Election Commission Chair Jonathan Duda. “This process has demonstrated that we’re going to go to all efforts to ensure that occurs, and that’s precisely what we’re doing here.” The county will rent and use Electronic Systems & Software machines in the 2022 election cycle. The machines function similarly to the Dominion voting machines used in previous elections and will output vote tallies both on physical “tapes” — essentially printed receipts — and electronically. The Tennessee State Department and third-party analysts recommended the switch in a February letter to the Election Commission. Duda served on the Williamson County Election Commission during the 2021 election cycle and was recently named chair. Former chair Bob Brown left the role to serve as U.S. House candidate Beth Harwell’s campaign manager.

Full Article: Williamson County to ditch Dominion voting machines after state review

Tennessee: Shelby County Election and County Commission chairs propose voting machine compromise to end lawsuit | Katherine Burgess/Memphis Commercial Appeal

The chairs of the Shelby County Election Commission and Shelby County Commission have come up with a compromise on voting machines that they hope will lead to the end of litigation between their two bodies, Election Chairman Brent Taylor announced Monday. Whether that will happen hinges on the votes of the members of the two commissions, with election commissioners voting in support of the plan Monday night. The compromise is simple, Taylor described Monday: Voters at the polls will be offered the choice between using a ballot marking device or filling out a hand-marked paper ballot. “What both the County Commission and Election Commission want to make sure of is the election workers do not couch this in a way where we’re exhibiting a preference to where they cast their ballot,” Taylor said. Later that day, Taylor announced his resignation from the Election Commission and that he would be announcing his plans in the coming week. A Republican who has served on both the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, he is expected to seek further public office. Taylor said the proposed compromise arose from conversations with County Commission Chairman Willie Brooks Jr., who was not present at the news conference Monday in which Taylor announced the proposed solution.

Full Article: Shelby County Election, County Commission chairs: voting machines

Tennessee: New evidence undermines case against Black US woman jailed for voting error | Sam Levine/The Guardian

I have an update in my reporting on the case of Pamela Moses, the 44-year-old Black Lives Matter Activist in Memphis who was sentenced to six years in prison for trying to register to vote. The case has attracted significant national attention because many see Moses’ sentence as too severe and a clear example of disparities in the US criminal justice system. The prosecution’s case is built around the argument that Moses knew she was ineligible to vote because she was on probation, and people on felony probation in Tennessee cannot vote. Indeed, a few months before she tried to register, a judge had issued an order telling Moses her probation was ongoing. But nevertheless, prosecutors argued, she convinced a probation officer into signing a form saying she was eligible to vote and then knowingly submitted the document knowing it was false. “You tricked the probation department into giving you documents saying you were off probation,” W Mark Ward, the judge who sentenced Moses, said in January. Moses, for her part, told me she did not know she was ineligible and her lawyers have said she went to the probation office genuinely seeking clarity about whether she could vote. A new email I obtained through a public records request adds to evidence undercutting the claim that Moses tricked the officer.

Full Article: New evidence undermines case against Black US woman jailed for voting error | US voting rights | The Guardian

Tennessee: Legal experts baffled by sentencing of woman for registering to vote | Associated Press

Some legal experts view as excessive and baffling the six-year prison sentence given to a Tennessee activist convicted of illegally registering to vote while on probation. Pamela Moses was convicted in November and sentenced to six years and a day on Jan. 31 by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge W. Mark Ward. The judge told Moses that he would consider placing her on probation after nine months if she completes certain prison programs and maintains good behavior, the district attorney’s office in Memphis said in a news release. Moses, who is Black, was convicted of multiple felonies and placed on probation in 2015, but she thought she was eligible to vote and tried to register in 2019. Some legal experts say the sentence illustrates the depth of the challenges faced by convicted felons when they try to have their voting rights restored and pointing out racial factors involved in the case. David Becker, a former attorney in the voting section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, said there is a movement among both conservatives and liberals to change “punitive and restrictive laws” that effectively disenfranchise people who have committed felonies but are not incarcerated and seek to return to society by exercising their right to vote. Many states are moving toward extending voter eligibility to such people, he said.

Full Article: Legal experts baffled by sentence for registering to vote | AP News

Tennessee lawmaker favors mirroring Georgia’s statewide voting system | Asia Ashley/The News Courier

A Tennessee state representative says he wants to instill more “confidence” in the state’s elections by implementing an electronic system similar to that used in Georgia since 2020. Initially, Republican Rep. Bruce Griffey filed a bill Dec. 29 to only allow votes to be cast by paper ballots statewide. According to the bill, HB 1662, ballots could only be hand-marked and must be counted using an electronic optical ballot scanner. However, Griffey said Monday he plans to re-draft the bill after speaking with Hardin County elections representatives about the county’s two-step voting verification process, which is similar to one used in Georgia. Georgia’s voting machines were purchased from Dominion Voting which drew the ire of President Donald Trump loyalists who falsely claimed the Georgia presidential election was “rigged,” despite the fact November 2020 results were re-certified and have been verified by two statewide audits and two recounts. John White, Hardin County, Tennessee, election commission chair, said its voting system — manufactured by Election Systems & Software — allows voters to make selections for each race via a touch screen computer. Once a voter confirms the selection, the ballot with the voter’s selections is printed on paper.

Full Article: Tennessee lawmaker favors mirroring Georgia’s statewide voting system | News | enewscourier.com

Tennessee Lawmaker Proposes a Return to Voting Without Ballot-Marking Machines | Morgan Nicole Veysey/Tennessee Star

Tennessee Representative Bruce Griffey (R-District 75) introduced a new bill aimed to protect election safety in Tennessee by eliminating the use of ballot-marking voting machines, and instead, requiring voters to use “hand-marked paper ballots.” The bill would also authorize poll watchers to video record polling places. Griffey, who recently announced his candidacy for Circuit Court Judge for the 24th Judicial District, Division 2, has been consistent proponent for increased election integrity legislation. “I will be pursuing more election integrity legislation in the upcoming legislative session to cut down on fraud and try to prevent another disaster like November 2020!” he said on Facebook shortly before filing the bill proposal. The proposed measure is an amendment to the current Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 9, and applies to the 2022 election and all elections thereafter.

Full Article: Tennessee Lawmaker Proposes a Return to Voting Without Ballot-Marking Machines – Tennessee Star

Tennessee Secretary of State backs future election audits | Sam Stockard/Tennessee Lookout

Secretary of State Tre Hargett confirmed this week he is supporting a move to audit Tennessee’s elections, but maybe not for the 2020 count, which has been much-maligned by Republicans nationally. In an abbreviated interview Wednesday with the Tennessee Lookout, Hargett said an audit bill will be forthcoming in the 2022 legislative session. Hargett referred to comments made by State Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins at an October meeting when a Williamson County group clashed with the State Election Commission over the need for a forensic audit to stop voter fraud in Tennessee. “There’s going to be legislation next time regarding post-election audits,” Hargett said as he left a meeting of the State Funding Board at the Cordell Hull Building. Hargett didn’t provide many details, such as potential cost. He isn’t so sure, either, about legislation by Sen. Janice Bowling, which would require a forensic audit of the 2020 election. Hargett said he would have to read the legislation and noted if the Legislature tells his office to conduct one, or the governor signs it into law, then he would “do what we need to do.”

Full Article: Stockard on the Stump: Secretary of State backs future election audits – Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee: Inside Franklin election issue: Poll workers caught errors, secretary of state advised hand count | Brinley Hineman/The Tennessean

After a voting machine tabulator possibly miscounted the total number of votes cast in a Tennessee municipal election, the county election commission held a hand count to verify vote totals. Under 4,000 people voted Tuesday in the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen race. A software issue may have led the Dominion voting machines to incorrectly calculate vote totals. Of the five races, four were won by significant margins and are likely to not be impacted by the hand count. The Ward 3 seat was won by only 25 votes. This was the first time the county has had issues with the voting machines, Election Administrator Chad Gray told The Tennessean. In his 21-year career as the election administrator, nothing like this has happened before. The hand count was performed by 40 people in groups of four spread out among 10 tables. The tables worked in pairs to hand count the ballots to ensure accuracy. Only about two dozen people attended the count — mostly candidates and their representatives. The hand count was quiet and calm with a few deputies present. Election officials expected the count to take late into the night. Conservatives have been suspicious of Dominion voting machines following the 2020 presidential election, when inaccurate claims surfaced that the company rigged the election and contributed to widespread voter fraud.

Full Article: How Franklin, TN, caught election issue and decided on hand count

Tennessee: Chancellor Rules Against Shelby County Election Commission in Round One of Voting-Machine Dispute | Jackson Baker/Memphis Flyer

Full Article: Memphis Flyer | Chancellor Rules Against EC in Round One of Voting-Machine Dispute

Tennessee: Shelby County Commission shoots down ballot-marking machines | Dulce Torres Guzman/Tennessee Lookout

On Monday, Shelby County Commission members voted 8-2 against a resolution to purchase Election System & Software ballot-marking devices and software, citing concerns that the voting machines were vulnerable. Since the 2020 election, the commission has been in debate with the Shelby County Election Commission on how to create confidence in election results. Shelby County commissioners cited an Arizona audit led by Republican state senators who were  inspired by discredited claims that widespread voter frsaaud took the presidency from Donald Trump.  President Joe Biden won Arizona by 10,457 voters, leading some elected officials to ask how states can create irrefutable election results and avoid future allegations. For the 2020 state and federal elections, the Shelby County commission approved the temporary use of hybrid machines that allowed voters to choose between hand-marked ballots and digital technology. Initially, the election commission favored hybrid devices before settling on ES&S devices, the nation’s largest manufacturer of voting technology. The company currently faces lawsuits due to allegations of errors leading to erroneous election results but inquiries found minimal evidence of voter fraud during the 2020 election. This week, the commission made a bipartisan decision to shoot down the election commission’s recommendation to use ballot-marking devices despite the election commission’s threatening to sue.

Full Article: Shelby County Commission shoots down ballot-marking machines – Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee: Commissioners reject ballot marking devices in voting machine contract for Shelby County | Katherine Burgess/Memphis Commercial Appeal

The Shelby County Commission rejected a resolution to purchase voting machines for a second time, sending a resounding message to the Election Commission that they still favor hand-marked paper ballots, not ballot marking devices. “I can understand their position tonight,” Election Commission Chairman Brent Taylor said. “Unfortunately, (the County Commission) is not charged with the responsibility of conducting elections. The Shelby County Election Commission is by statute charged with conducting elections by statute and we have said in order to conduct the elections in a free, fair, honest, open way we need these machines and it is the County Commission’s responsibility to fund them.” Commissioners later approved a resolution requesting that the county’s purchasing department assist with the procurement process for the purchase of voting machines and related software that support hand-marked paper ballots. The machines in the contract voted down Monday would have been for ballot marking devices, which permit voters to cast their ballots using a screen and producing a printout with a bar code. The county’s current machines don’t produce a paper trail to allow voters to review their decisions. Taylor said he will take the decision back to his body to assess what their options are, which could be anything from rebidding the request for proposal or going to Chancery Court to force the commission to fund ballot marking devices. It remains to be seen whether Monday’s vote means the old machines will be used in the 2022 election, Taylor said. It is possible that they could appear before Chancery Court on an emergency basis and have a ruling in enough time to purchase equipment before the election.

Full Article: Shelby County rejects ballot marking devices in voting machine contract

Tennessee: Shelby County Election Commission chairman says County Commission not cooperating on voting machines | Bill Dries/Daily Memphian

The chairman of the Shelby County Election Commission says county commissioners waited until after he left their meeting Monday, July 26, to approve what amounts to an end run around the Election Commission in picking a new voting system. Brent Taylor told The Daily Memphian he will discuss with other election commissioners the move by county commissioners to take proposals on a new voting system on their own. “It was our hope to work with the County Commission to resolve this in the best interest of Shelby Countians,” Taylor said the day after the vote. “However, adding an item to the agenda, which effectively bypasses the Shelby County Election Commission in conducting elections after the members of the Election Commission have left the building, doesn’t indicate a willingness to work cooperatively for Shelby County voters.” That could mean the Election Commission takes the County Commission to Chancery Court in a lawsuit over which body gets to pick the county’s new voting system with 2022 elections less than a year away. County Commission Chairman Eddie Jones introduced the add-on item near the end of Monday’s agenda with no notice or discussion of the move in committee sessions last week. The resolution instructs the county purchasing department to begin taking proposals on a new voting system for local elections that are based in hand-marked paper ballots. “This is just to start that process up so we don’t get caught by other things happening,” Jones said. “If we do this now and start the process, it could be done by close to the end of September for what the majority of this body voted for. Earlier in Monday’s County Commission meeting, the body voted down a $3.9 million contract brought by the Election Commission for a new voting system that would have used updated touch screen machines like those used in local elections for the past 16 years.

Full Article: Election Commission chairman says County Commission not cooperating on voting machines – Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian

Tennessee and 6 other states still have bans on atheists holding office | Kristina M. Lee/Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee’s Constitution includes a provision that bars three groups from holding office: atheists, ministers and those engaging in duels. Efforts are under way in the state legislature to remove this exclusion for ministers, but not for duelists – or atheists. In January 2021, Republican Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, proposed Senate Joint Resolution 55 to amend Article IX of the Constitution of Tennessee to rid it of a clause that states “no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of the Legislature.” No mention is made in Pody’s resolution about Section 2 of the same article: “No person who denies the being of God … shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.” Nor for that matter does the current bill mention Section 3’s objection to those who participate, aid or abet a duel. When Pody was asked why his resolution removes only the ban on ministers, his response was that it is best to clean up the constitution “one simple step at a time.” Tennessee is one of seven states that has an unconstitutional ban on atheists holding public office. Although superseded by Supreme Court rulings, such bans are important. As a scholar of religious and political rhetoric who focuses on the marginalization of U.S. atheists, I believe they reflect the normalization of anti-atheism that has yet to be truly dealt with, or rarely acknowledged, in the United States.

Full Article: Why it matters that 7 states still have bans on atheists holding office – Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee: Talks start over new Shelby County voting system compromise | Bill Dries/Daily Memphian

Two months after the Shelby County Election Commission approved a possible lawsuit against the County Commission over new voting machines, no lawsuit has been filed and both sides in the dispute are talking. “The talks are very preliminary,” Shelby County Election Commission Chairman Brent Taylor said on The Daily Memphian Politics Podcast. Taylor also discussed during the podcast changes to the election process considered by the Tennessee General Assembly. The podcast also includes an interview with Memphis Police Chief nominee Cerelyn ‘CJ’ Davis. “Right now, we are in discussions about trying to meet so we can discuss the contract and find out if there is any compromise,” Taylor said of the possible lawsuit. “Any way that we can come together and make sure that we balance the needs of the Election Commission with those of the County Commission.” The County Commission rejected this past October a $5.8 million contract approved by the Election Commission for a new voting system featuring updated touch screen voting machines and a paper readout of a voter’s selections. That system would allow the ballot to be put through a digital scanner and would then put the paper record in a sealed ballot box.

Full Article: Talks start over new voting system compromise – Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News | Daily Memphian

Tennessee: Shelby County Election Commission to sue over voting equipment funds | Laura Testino/Memphis Commercial Appeal

The Shelby County Election Commission intends to file suit against the county commission over funding it says it needs for new voting equipment. Election commissioners met in an executive session with attorneys about the matter Tuesday, according to a release from the election commission. “The County Commission has repeatedly denied our requests to fund the ballot marking devices, because they want paper ballots,” Steve Stamson, chairman of the election commissioners, said in a statement. He said the election commission attempted to put the funding measure back on a county commission agenda for January, but that the request was denied. Although a filing date was not discussed during the session, the suit is likely to be filed in a local court within the next 30 days, Suzanne Thompson, spokesperson for the election commission, said by phone. The ultimate filing date is up to attorney Allan Wade, she said. Wade, of The Wade Law Firm, will represent the election commission. Election commissioners say the need for funding for the new equipment is urgent. The vendor that supports the voting machines that are currently in use, the commissioners say, is stopping service at the end of the year. Funding was denied in 2020, ahead of the Nov. 3 election, as county commissioners raised questions about the bidding process for the proposed machines. 

Full Article: Shelby County Election Commission to sue over voting equipment funds

Tennessee congressman introducing resolution to abolish Electoral College | WMC

Representative Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee, announced Friday plans to introduce a resolution to abolish the Electoral College saying the presidency should be decided by the popular vote. The congressman is Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. He introduced a joint resolution calling for an end to the Electoral College at the beginning of the previous Congress in 2019. A news release from his office calls the Electoral College an “archaic institution” that has in the last two decades twice given the White House to a candidate who did not win the popular vote, “defeating the will of the American people.” “The Americans expect and deserve the winner of the popular vote to win office,” reads a statement from the congressman. “More than a century ago, we amended our Constitution to provide for the direct election of U.S. Senators. It is past time to directly elect our President and Vice President. The Electoral College is a vestige of the 18th Century when voters didn’t know the candidates who now appear daily on their television screens. Wednesday’s mayhem at the Capitol shows that efforts can be made to manipulate the Electoral College vote using falsehoods and shenanigans by ambitious politicians. The President should always be elected by the people, not the politicians, and the Electoral College allows politicians to make the ultimate decision. It is well past time to do away with this anachronistic institution and guarantee a fair and accurate vote for President.” Cohen also cited the pro-Trump supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday to interrupt certification of the Electoral College vote.

Full Article: Tennessee congressman introducing resolution to abolish Electoral College

Tennessee: ‘A dark day for America’: State lawmakers condemn rioters storming US Capitol | Yue Stella Yu and Natalie Allison/Nashville Tennessean

Tennessee’s congressional delegation condemned the mob of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, bringing a joint session of Congress to a halt and forcing lawmakers and staff into lockdown. Most of Tennessee’s Republican delegation began the day vowing to support President Donald Trump’s futile efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, saying they would not certify several states’ Electoral College votes. U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Wednesday morning tweeted that “lots of Tennesseans” had traveled to the nation’s Capitol to support Trump. But after rioters breached the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday afternoon, the lawmaker’s tenor changed. After years of encouraging Trump supporters and repeating his false statements, Tennessee’s two U.S. Senators used social media to say they disapproved of the rioting. “You are disrupting the democratic process,” Blackburn tweeted after rioters breached the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday afternoon. “You should be ashamed of yourself. This is violence. This is a crime. It must stop.” Newly sworn-in U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, who replaced former U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, also condemned the violence on Wednesday. “What is happening at the U.S. Capitol right now is not peaceful, this is violence,” Hagerty said on Twitter. “I condemn it in the strongest terms. We are a nation of laws and this must stop.”

Full Article: Protest at U.S. Capitol: Tennessee delegates on lockdown, riots

Tennessee: AT&T not conducting voting machine audit near Nashville explosion site | Ali Swenson/Associated Press

CLAIM: AT&T got a contract to do a forensic audit of Dominion Voting Systems machines and those machines were recently moved to Nashville, Tennessee — to the same AT&T building that was damaged in a Christmas morning explosion.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. AT&T did not have a contract to audit Dominion machines and was not holding Dominion machines in its Nashville building, both companies confirmed to The Associated Press. Authorities still don’t know the reason for the Christmas day bombing, but there’s no evidence it was election related.

THE FACTS: As federal officials work to piece together a motive for the blast that rattled downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, social media users have invented their own far-fetched theories. One theory shared thousands of times on Facebook over the weekend tries to connect the explosion to voting machines used in the Nov. 3 election. … These claims are groundless. Spokespeople for AT&T and Dominion confirmed to the AP that AT&T had no contract to audit Dominion machines, and no Dominion machines were to be sent to Nashville. Some of the posts attempted to further link AT&T to Dominion by claiming a former owner of the AT&T building was a board member of a firm that owns Dominion.

Cerberus Capital Management, the firm named in the posts, does not own Dominion, nor does it own the company that does own Dominion, Staple Street Capital. “Dominion has no connection to AT&T, the building, Nashville, family members of the Bidens or the Clintons, and Staple Street is not owned by Cerberus,” said Tony Fratto, a partner at the PR firm Hamilton Place Strategies who emailed the AP on behalf of Dominion. “These are conspiracies manufactured out of whole cloth.”

Full Article: AT&T not conducting voting machine audit near Nashville explosion site

Tennessee: Nashville bombing quickly linked with voting, 5G conspiracy theories | Adam Tamburin/Nashville Tennessean

Within minutes of the Christmas Day bombing that blew apart several buildings in downtown Nashville, conspiracy theories surfaced online tying the attack to familiar, debunked claims of voter fraud and the rise of the 5G mobile network. … Conspiracy theorists said the AT&T building near the blast housed tainted voting machines. That false claim was quickly denounced by company spokespeople, and multiple news outlets confirmed the conspiracy theory was not true. Dancy said public officials seeking to dampen the power of conspiracy theories should openly acknowledge uncertainty during emergencies and investigations. “Stick to the evidence,” Dancy said. “You have to be very honest about what you know and what you don’t know.”

Full Article: Nashville bombing quickly linked with voting, 5G conspiracy theories

Tennessee Defends In-Person Voting Rules at Sixth Circuit | Kevin Koeninger/Courthouse News Service

The state of Tennessee asked a panel of judges Tuesday to reinstate a voting law that requires first-time voters to cast ballots in person, arguing the restriction helps ensure the integrity of elections. The Volunteer State asked the Sixth Circuit in October for a decision without oral arguments so the law could be reinstated before the November election, but the Cincinnati-based appeals court refused and instead scheduled Tuesday’s hearing. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson, an appointee of President Donald Trump, suspended the law with an injunction in September, after the Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute and the NAACP filed suit in federal court and claimed the Covid-19 pandemic required the state to allow more of its voters to use absentee ballots. Richardson found the Tennessee Conference of the NAACP had associational standing to bring the suit based on testimony from 20-year-old college student and member Corey Sweet, who told the court he was unsure of how to vote in the 2020 election. In his brief to the appeals court, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett argued Richardson lacked jurisdiction to issue the injunction because Sweet failed to meet absentee voting eligibility requirements that were wholly unrelated to the first-time voter law. Hargett said Richardson “overstated the burden imposed by the first-time voter requirement,” a burden he called minimal at most, and argued the ruling impacted the ability of the state to verify voters and ensure the integrity of its elections. In their brief to the appeals court, the voting rights groups argued that even if Sweet’s claim was mooted when he became ineligible to vote absentee, the NAACP’s standing is maintained because at least a portion of its more than 10,000 Tennessee members “will be similarly affected by the first-time voter restriction.”

Full Article: Tennessee Defends In-Person Voting Rules at Sixth Circuit

Tennessee: Dispute Over Shelby County Election Machines Remains Unsettled | Jackson Baker/Memphis Flyer

The tug-of-war between Shelby County Election Administrator Linda Phillips and the adherents of paper-ballot voting over the purchase of new election machines continues apace. The most recent development, detailed in a November 18th Flyer article, involved the administrator’s purchase of three new ballot-marking devices for the ongoing runoff elections in Collierville.  The machines are manufactured by the ES&S Company and are of a type previously preferred by a 4-1 vote of the Shelby County Election Commission but rejected for funding by the Shelby County Commision, which, in the interests of transparency, had established its own preference for handmarked paper-ballot devices in several prior votes. The funding source for the three machines had been — publicly, at least — something of a mystery. According to SCEC sources, the machines were paid for by the office of the Secretary of State in Nashville  The purchase of the machines had been revealed last week in a formal SCEC press release, which contended that there had been no alternative to acquiring them, inasmuch as the old machines used by Collierville in the city’s first round of elections earlier this month were tied up, pending certification this week of the November 3rd results.

Full Article: Dispute Over Election Machines Remains Unsettled | Politics Beat Blog