A federal district court judge dismissed a challenge to a Tennessee election integrity law meant to encourage people to only vote in the primary election associated with their party. District Judge Eli Richardson dismissed the lawsuit on Monday, The Associated Press reported.
The League of Women Voters of Tennessee, Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist Victor Ashe, and real estate developer Phil Lawson filed the lawsuit against the Tennessee Secretary of State, the state election coordinator, and the Tennessee Attorney General in November 2023, The Tennessee Star previously reported.
The plaintiffs intended to keep the state from enforcing a section of state law that only gives the entitlement to vote in a primary election to people who are “bona fide” members of the political party associated with the primary and people who “declare allegiance” to that political party.
Another part of the law stipulates that polling places on primary election days must display signage warning voters against such behavior. This part took effect last year and is intended to discourage Democrats and Republicans from sabotaging the other party’s primary elections by voting for candidates that will be defeated in general elections.
Tennessee hosts “open primaries,” meaning it does not require voters to register with a political party to vote in a primary election.
Therefore, state law is “unconstitutionally vague” about the definitions of “bona fide” and “declare allegiance,” the plaintiffs argued in their original complaint. The law also deters people from voting when their actions would otherwise be legal, the complaint continued.
Richardson (pictured above), however, determined the plaintiffs did not show how the law’s language, originally passed in 1972, could “suddenly confuse or intimidate voters,” the AP reported.
“Richardson found that their claims of potential injury were too speculative,” the outlet reported further.
Not only that, but the Tennessee Secretary of State, the coordinator of elections, and the Tennessee Attorney General cannot prosecute those who violate the contested law, so prohibiting them from doing so would do nothing to help the plaintiffs, Richardson reportedly wrote.
Ashe, a longtime Republican politician in Tennessee and the former ambassador to Poland, told the APÂ that he and his lawyers have not yet decided on the next steps.
The League of Women Voters, a grassroots organization that helps register voters and engages in advocacy, has not publicly commented on the ruling.
Lawson, according to the original complaint, is “one of the largest donors to the Tennessee Democratic Party, but he has voted for both Republican and Democratic candidates in general elections and has made financial contributions to both Republican and Democratic candidates.”
For its legislation safeguarding elections in the state, Tennessee is currently ranked as the number one state in the nation for election integrity by the Heritage Foundation.
– – –
Matthew Giffin is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Matthew on X/Twitter.
