TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 5, 2020

Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle yesterday ordered the state to give all registered voters the option to request a ballot by mail, The Tennessean reports. Currently, Tennessee has limited the use of absentee ballots and mail-in voting to those who are actively sick, disabled, traveling or elderly. The risk of being exposed to COVID-19 has not been considered justification to submit a vote by mail. State attorneys argued that making mail in voting widely available was not feasible. Lyle countered that argument by pointing to a number of other Southern states that are making such an option available. In a statement released today, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III said the court “gave little weight to the unanimous expertise of state and county election officials that hastily expanding absentee voting is impracticable and risks disenfranchising Tennessee voters.”