Tennessee officials dispute ruling that gave voting rights back to 4 people who can’t have guns
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Election officials in Tennessee are challenging a judge’s ruling on the matter restored the voting rights of four people who are not allowed to have guns under their specific crime, demonstrating the impact of the new state policy that gun right are a condition for being able to vote again.
The state filed its disagreement in a court petition just days before the Oct. 7 voter registration deadline. Now that that deadline has passed, the odds have narrowed for those voters and others similarly caught up in casting their ballots next month.
Tennessee officials changed the gun rights requirement in January after stating so in July 2023 that someone who has committed a crime needs his “full citizenship rights” back in order to be able to vote. They said a new state Supreme Court ruling required the changes.
Voting rights advocates said officials seriously misinterpreted the decision and made the rules significantly more difficult to vote after a crime, which was already complicated and difficult to implement.
The case of the four voters is one of the first cases in which officials are forced to defend the mandate in court. Advocates have warned that reinstating the gun-to-vote tie-in could permanently disenfranchise many more voters than what state law requires in the categories of permanently disqualified offenses. This is because drug offenses and violent crimes give rise to a ban on gun rights.
Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton last month ordered the restoration of voting rights to the four applicants. She reasoned that if someone can’t get their gun rights back because a violation disqualifies them, there is case law that says they can still get their voting rights and other citizenship rights back.
Last week, the state argued in a motion that the judge had misinterpreted the district court’s precedent. Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office requested that the order be amended to say that only some of voters’ “full rights to citizenship” had been restored and that the state opposes the restoration of “full” rights to citizenship. Even if a judge says a person’s right to vote has been restored, the state can still determine that someone doesn’t meet the criteria to register to vote, officials reasoned.
“The definition of ‘complete’ does not change and includes fewer rights when a criminal commits a more serious crime,” the state wrote. “Full means full.”
In another case, the elections office denied another man’s registration because a judge restored his citizenship rights — including voting, but excluding guns. Lawyers representing him argued that the election coordinator should be held in contempt for not accepting his voter registration. But the judge ruled there was no reason to hold Tennessee elections coordinator Mark Goins in contempt.
“His voting rights were immediately restored,” Charles Grant, attorney for the man seeking his voting rights back, said during an Oct. 1 hearing. “And yet ten months later he is still trying to get his voting card.”
Since 2020, Tennessee’s voting rights restoration system has been facing a lawsuit. Prosecutors say there is uncertainty about which officials can sign the necessary forms, no criteria for denial, and no opportunity to appeal, among other criticisms. The trial was postponed to also address the stricter restrictions and will go to trial on December 10.
A 2006 state law had established a process where people convicted of a crime could petition for the restoration of voting rights if they could prove they had served their sentences and owed no outstanding court fees or child support.
Now, applicants must also regain their citizenship rights through the courts or through a pardon from a president, governor or other high-ranking official, and then complete the old process.
Expulsion provides a separate path to restoring voting rights, but many crimes are ineligible.
Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers have rejected any changes on the issue until after the elections, with several key leaders claim that people should not break the law if they do not want their voting rights revoked. Instead, after returning in January, GOP leaders decided to study citizenship rights issues and propose changes.
Tennessee is estimated to have more than 470,000 disenfranchised felons, and they face a complicated recovery process that is also unavailable for certain offenses, according to a report from The Sentencing Project last updated in 2023. The report states that 9% of Tennessee’s voting population is disenfranchised. due to a felony conviction. For African Americans it is even higher: more than 21%.