State officials are concerned about a potentially low voter turnout in the Nov. 4 general election and particularly the impact of a low turnout on the four proposed state constitutional amendments on the ballot, the Commercial Appeal reports. Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett, whose office oversees elections statewide, and state Election Coordinator Mark Goins said turnout on Wednesday, the first day of early voting, was light across most of the state. Each amendment must win a majority of votes cast on the amendment, and that majority must also equal at least 50 percent plus one vote of the total number of votes cast in the governor’s race on the same ballot.

The Libertarian Party of Tennessee’s candidate for governor, Daniel Lewis, has lost a bid to have his party affiliation appear next to his name on the ballot, according to court records. Under Tennessee law, individual candidates need to collect 25 signatures to appear on the ballot, but they appear as independents if their parties have not also qualified. The party has not collected the more-than-40,000 signatures needed to qualify and is suing over the signature requirement, claiming it is onerous. While the lawsuit works its way through the courts, Lewis had asked for a temporary order allowing him to be listed as a Libertarian on the ballot this election. U.S. District Judge William Haynes denied the request last week. Knoxblogs has the story.

Taking photographs of voters without permission or texting and talking on cell phones will now be prohibited at Putnam County polling places, according to a policy adopted earlier this week by its Election Commission. The media is allowed to photograph or record a voter within a 100 foot boundary with permission of the election commission and the voter. The policies were written after the election commission received complaints about photographs being taken in polling places during the August election. The Herald Citizen has more.

In an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times, Eric J. Segall, law professor at Georgia State University, urged the U.S. Supreme Court to make the certiorari process more transparent. Currently, the court does not disclose which justices vote for or against hearing a case. Segall argues that votes should not be kept secret unless there are compelling reasons to do so. The author calls Supreme Court justices some of our “most secretive governmental officials” and says “[t]here is no reason the justices should be so invisible to the American people.” The Brennon Center newsletter has more.

The Supreme Court this afternoon rejected a plea to stop same-sex marriages from going ahead in Alaska, Scotusblog reports. By denying the state’s plea for postponement in a one-sentence order that did not provide any explanation, the Court’s action had the effect of making that state the 31st in which gays and lesbians can marry legally. Earlier today, the ban in Arizona was nullified, and the state decided that it would have no chance with an appeal to the Ninth Circuit and so advised county clerks that they could start issuing marriage licenses.

Oscar C. Carr III of Memphis was selected to be a chancellor in the 30th Judicial District by Gov. Bill Haslam. Carr replaces Kenny Armstrong, who was appointed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals effective Sept. 1. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more.

The Arkansas Supreme Court struck down the state’s voter identification law on Wednesday, saying that it would set a new requirement for voting beyond the four qualifications listed in the state’s Constitution. A day earlier, a federal appeals court ruled that Texas could enforce its voter identification requirements in the November election. The Arkansas ruling came less than three weeks before the Nov. 4 election in a state where there are several close contests this year, including for governor and the United States Senate. The New York Times has the story. 

House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, told TNReport this week he’s hoping Amendment 2 passes in order to put the controversy over the selection process to rest. If it doesn’t, he said, “I think we immediately need to make plans to just go ahead and do it like the Constitution says to do it, which is to have real elections.” Knoxblogs has more.

Some voters are confused about how the race for Tennessee governor on the Nov. 4 ballot is connected to the votes regarding the four proposed amendment, Memphis Daily News reports. Social media followers on both sides of the judicial selection and abortion amendment issues are wrongly advising followers that if they don’t vote in the governor’s race their votes won’t be counted on the amendments. “That’s false,” said Shelby County Elections Administrator Richard Holden, explaining how the link between the amendments and the governor’s race is a part of the confusion. “In order for a constitutional amendment to pass, it has to get 50 percent plus one of the quantity of votes cast in the governor’s race.” 

Strategists in both state political parties say Republicans are likely to retain their two-thirds supermajorities in the Tennessee legislature in the Nov. 4 general election, the Commercial Appeal reports. Republicans currently hold a 26-7 majority over Democrats in the Senate and 70-28 advantage in the House. (The one House independent, Rep. Kent Williams of Elizabethton, isn’t seeking re-election.) With such big numbers, the GOP could lose up to four seats in both chambers and still have the two-thirds votes in each to change legislative rules and propose state constitutional amendments — not to mention pass new laws, which require only simple majorities.