State House Committee Denies Tennessee Voters The Ability To Register With a Political Party

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A bill that would allow Tennessee voters the ability to register with either of the two major political parties or as unaffiliated failed in the House Local Committee. The effort, sponsored by Representative Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro) as HB 1398, was amended to eliminate requiring a party affiliation and eliminate closing the party primaries, as it was felt “having closed primaries would disenfranchise Independents and Democrats and Republicans who wanted to vote in each others’ primary,” according to Rudd as he presented the bill. A measure to actually close the primaries sponsored by Representative Andy Holt (R-Dresden) under HB 1273, in accordance with a December 2018 overwhelming vote by the State Executive Committee of the Tennessee Republican Party, failed in the same Committee late last month as The Tennessee Star reported. Representative Rudd made the point that, “The one group of people that are disenfranchised right now, both Democrat and Republican, are party members and activists that actually want to be registered.” Representative London Lamar (D-Memphis) questioned Representative Rudd, as she did with Representative Holt on his closed primary bill, as to whether he had consulted with both political parties in writing the bill. Rudd responded that he…

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State House Committee Shoots Down Closing Party Primaries With the Help of Ten Republicans

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – By a vote of 2 to 14, a bill requiring that a voter in a party primary first declare their party affiliation prior to casting a primary vote, failed in the House Local Government Committee. Representative Andy Holt (R-Dresden) was the House sponsor of HB 1273, known as the “Political Party Registration Act,” as an outcome of the December 2018 organizational meeting of the Republican State Executive Committee (SEC). At the meeting, the Republican SEC overwhelming voted to pass a resolution to the Tennessee General Assembly addressing voter registration by a vote of 45 to 14 and one abstention, as reported by The Tennessee Star. The passage of the resolution by the Republican SEC resolved a long-standing issue as to whether the Tennessee Republican Party or the Tennessee General Assembly should make the first move relative to closing the primaries. As bill sponsor Holt explained to the Committee in the presentation of his bill, Tennessee law currently requires that a participant in a party primary be a bona fide member of that party. Violators of the law commit an offense that is a Class E felony, although there is no real enforcement of the law, due to…

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Tennessee GOP Votes To Close Primaries

FRANKLIN, Tennessee – The State Executive Committee (SEC) of the Tennessee Republican Party voted overwhelmingly at its organizational meeting to require party registration in order to vote in a party’s primary election, more commonly known as closing the primaries. The SEC has a potential of 66 seats consisting of one committeeman and one committeewoman for each of Tennessee’s 33 Senate districts. In a roll call vote, there were 45 votes in favor of closing the primaries, 14 for the primaries to remain open and one abstention. Two SEC members were absent with no proxy present, and four seats are currently vacant. The resolution will be provided to the Tennessee General Assembly with the expectation of getting a bill passed by the Republican-controlled Senate and House to address voter registration during the upcoming legislative session which will begin in January, thereby putting an end to the perceived finger-pointing as to whether it is the SEC or legislature that must close the primaries. A press release issued shortly after the vote and meeting adjournment on Saturday titled “TNGOP Passes Election Resolutions,” stated that the Tennessee Republican Party’s State Executive Committee voted to approve a resolution that asks the 111th General Assembly “to…

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Is Push to Close Primaries Dead For the Year?

The push to close primaries in Tennessee is dead for the year, a legislative source says. SB 0772 aims to require a voter to declare a statewide political party affiliation before voting in a primary. That bill was assigned March 20 to the Senate’s General Subcommittee of the State and Local Government Committee. However, Pamela McCary, legislative assistant to State Rep. Tim Wirgau, said on March 21 that it has not been moved onto the calendar in the House, so that chamber cannot take action on it this year. Wirgau, R-Buchanan, is chairman of the Local Government Committee in the House. There has been a lot of “buzz” on the topic for some reason, despite the status in the House, she said. The House bill number is HB 0887. Also on March 21, the main sponsor of the House bill changed from Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, to Rep. Tilman Goins, R-Morristown. Williams is still a co-sponsor. State Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, is the Senate sponsor.

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