TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Sep 25, 2020

District Judge Eli Richardson on Wednesday blocked a request from voting rights advocates asking him to remove a state law that imposes felony charges against anyone who shares absentee ballot applications, if they’re not an election commission employee, the Tennessean reports. Tennessee is the only state to impose such a restriction and plaintiffs in the case argued the threat of heavy criminal charges infringes on their right to constitutionally protected free speech by creating a system where fear of punishment overburdens those seeking to speak. Richardson ruled in favor of the state, refusing to temporarily block it from enforcing the felony provision.