TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Nov 21, 2024

A handful of Middle Tennessee voters will have their November provisional ballots counted, though the fight over their registration remains unresolved, the Associated Press reports. The voters, each with past felony convictions, sought to restore their right to vote but ran into a new interpretation of state law disallowing those who cannot restore their right to possess a firearm from restoring their right to vote. Two Nashville-based judges — Nashville Criminal Court Judge Angelita Dalton and Circuit Court Judge Thomas Brothers — rejected the state’s interpretation and allowed the individuals to vote. According to Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins, the ballots will be counted but the state is not stepping away from the court fight over its policy and reserves the right to revoke registrations before the next election.