Tennessee to count provisional ballots by people convicted of felonies who had rights in limbo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee will count provisional ballots cast by six people convicted of felonies whose voting rights were recently restored under judge rulings but who were placed in limbo after state officials has filed a slew of legal motions arguing that they had to get their gun rights back to be able to vote again.
According to letters sent to local election boards earlier this month, elections coordinator Mark Goins told officials to count provisional ballots.
“While other courts have handled requests for restoration of rights differently and I disagree with the court’s order, in this particular case, given the timing and language in this particular order, we must comply with the court’s order, even though it is not final.” Goins wrote in one letter on November 15.
In January, Tennessee’s secretary of state shocked voting rights advocates when it announced that people convicted of a crime must have their gun rights and other “citizenship rights” restored before they can become eligible to vote again.
While explaining their decision, the elections office pointed to 2023 statehood Supreme Court ruling that said all people convicted of crimes must first apply for restored voting rights will have their “full citizenship rights” restored by judge or show they were pardoned by a governor. Gun rights were among the requirements, the Minister of Foreign Affairs noted.
Critics have argued that the state’s legal interpretation was way off base, but the state has fiercely defended its position. When a handful of voters wanted to cast ballots in the November election despite being convicted of crimes that stripped them of their gun rights, they went to court and the judges sided with them. The state then fought back, launching several motions for judges to change their decisions.
In one statementsaid a judge that “full citizenship rights” can still be restored even if a person’s gun rights are still subject to exclusion due to restrictions in state law, citing a 2002 Tennessee Supreme Court ruling. Criminal Court Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton of Davidson County noted that the gun ban violations are not among those specified in state law as ineligible for voting rights restoration.
As the case dragged past Election Day, the six voters involved in the lawsuit were told to vote provisionally — meaning their ballots would be counted after their voting status was confirmed.
Another Nashville judge issued a similar ruling Friday in two voter recovery cases.
“I truly believe that the case law in Tennessee is such that the right to vote can be restored without having to restore the right to bear arms,” Judge Thomas Brothers said in court.
Despite reluctantly allowing the six voters to cast their provisional ballots, Goins warned the boards of elections in Davidson, Lewis, Sumner and Wilson counties that the latest court orders were not yet final.
“This court order may ultimately be reversed or modified,” Goins wrote. “If that happens, the voter registration could be deleted.”
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Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise contributed from Nashville.