TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

State Plans to Enforce In-Person Requirement for Some First-Time Voters

Posted by: Kate Prince on Jul 2, 2020

Despite a Nashville judge’s order last month to expand absentee voting for all eligible voters, state officials say they plan to enforce a requirement that first-time voters who register by mail cast their ballots in-person, the Associated Press reports. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law sought to block the in-person requirement in a court filing last month, saying it’s unclear if the judge’s order allows that group to vote by mail. The state responded last week, saying that it and county officials have moved forward under the expectation that the first-time voting requirement “would apply as usual in the upcoming elections.” If that requirement were blocked, the state says election officials would have to canvass all absentee ballot applications, identify those who were rejected because they were first-time voters who registered by mail and then contact those voters to re-submit an absentee ballot application—all before the July 30 deadline. It is unclear how many voters that would rule out for absentee voting before the Aug. 6 primary.  

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