TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Aug 26, 2020

Tennessee’s election officials have yet to properly inform voters that people in high-risk groups for COVID-19 and their caretakers can request an absentee mail-in ballot this year, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled yesterday. She has given the state until noon on Monday to revise the form, Nashville Public Radio reports. According to Lyle’s ruling, the state must mention COVID-19 by name, and make it clear that anyone with an underlying health condition making them more susceptible to contracting the virus or those who take care of such people now have a reason to vote absentee. The ruling also directs the state to instruct county-level election officials to do the same. Finally, Chancellor Lyle noted that the state website continues to present “confusing and misleading content” but stopped short of issuing any web-related mandates, saying her authority does not extend beyond the absentee ballot application form.