NASHVILLE — Tennessee officials say they plan to enforce a requirement that first-time voters who register by mail cast their ballots in person, despite a judge’s ruling that allows all eligible voters to cast absentee ballots during the coronavirus pandemic.
The state attorney general’s office provided the interpretation in response to a separate federal lawsuit that seeks to block the in-person requirement and two other absentee voting laws before the Aug. 6 primary election.
If that requirement were blocked for the August primary, the state said “County Election Commissions would be required to canvass their absentee ballot applications to identify any applications that were rejected because they were first-time voters who had registered to vote by mail and then contact those voters so that they could re-submit their applications for an absentee ballot—with a looming deadline of July 30 as the last day to request an absentee ballot.”
The state says the requirement aligns with federal law that addresses how first-time voters who register to vote by mail must provide identification.
“Because the State’s signature-verification process, ban on unsolicited distribution of absentee ballot applications, and requirement that first-time voters appear in person exist to ensure the integrity of the election process, the removal of these safeguards is not in the interest of the State or the public,” the state wrote.
