TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Apr 12, 2022

A special judge ruled yesterday that Shelby County will not be required to open additional early voting sites during Holy Week, the Commercial Appeal reports. The ruling came after the NAACP Memphis Branch, #UpTheVote901 and the Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis sued the Shelby County Election Commission to keep them from implementing a resolution opening just its downtown location on the first two days of early voting and five other sites on the fourth day. The groups say the resolution would disenfranchise minority voters throughout early voting in the upcoming county election. Much of the argument Monday centered on whether churches were willing to act as early voting sites during Holy Week. “The question is, do I disrupt the entire Shelby County election based on what I’ve heard at this point?" Judge James Butler asked. "And the court is not prepared to do that.”