The state of Tennessee imposes Strict Limits on Eligibility for Voting Absentee and uses Criminal Penalties to deter People from Assisting Voters with obtaining Absentee Ballots.
Tennessee Absentee Ballot Rules:
- The voter will be outside the county of registration during the early voting period and all day on election day.
- The voter or the voter’s spouse is enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited college or university outside the county of registration.
- The voter’s licensed physician has filed a statement with the county election commission stating that, in the physician's judgment, the voter is medically unable to vote in person. The statement must be filed not less than seven (7) days before the election and signed under the penalty of perjury.
- The voter resides in a licensed facility providing relatively permanent domiciliary care, other than a penal institution, outside the voter's county of residence.
- The voter will be unable to vote in person due to service as a juror for a federal or state court.
- The voter is sixty (60) years of age or older.
- The voter has a physical disability and an inaccessible polling place.
- The voter is hospitalized, ill, or physically disabled and because of such condition, cannot vote in person.
- The voter is a caretaker of a person who is hospitalized, ill, or disabled.
- The voter is a candidate for office in the election.
- The voter serves as an election day official or as a member or employee of the election commission.
- The voter’s observance of a religious holiday prevents him or her from voting in person during the early voting period and on election day.
- The voter or the voter’s spouse possesses a valid commercial drivers license (CDL) or the voter possesses a valid Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card and certifies that he or she will be working outside the state or county of registration during the open hours of early voting and Election Day, and has no specific out-of-county or out-of-state address to which mail may be sent or received during such time.
- The voter is a member of the military or is an overseas citizen.
In the midst of a Global Pandemic, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Campaign Legal Center, filed a Lawsuit today on behalf of Two Individual Voters and Organizations whose many Members are Not eligible for Vote-by-Mail under Current Law, but wish to avoid Exposing Themselves or Elderly Family Members to Coronavirus.
“It is more difficult to cast an absentee ballot in Tennessee than in most other states. This is bad enough in normal times, but Tennessee’s laws are particularly offensive during a time when more voters than ever before need to vote by mail because of the current public health crisis. Criminalizing the mere provision of a request for an absentee ballot is outrageous under any circumstances. Failure to provide a procedure for voters whose absentee ballots were rejected because their signatures did not match signatures on record is fundamentally unfair. And not allowing voters to vote by absentee ballot if they fear that they or their loved ones would contract COVID-19 if they vote in person effectively takes away their right to vote.” said Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment