The Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus called for no-excuse absentee voting in a recent letter to Gov. Bill Lee and Secretary of State Tre Hargett.
The letter asks Lee and Hargett to protect voters from the coronavirus by allowing any Tennessean to vote absentee and expanding early voting options.
“Unfortunately, the right of every Tennessean to participate equally and freely in our state and federal elections – without exposing themselves to the coronavirus – is in jeopardy. Therefore we are writing you today urging extraordinary measures be implemented to safeguard voting for our upcoming elections,” states the letter.
According to the letter, Tennessee allows residents to vote by mail only if they satisfy one of 14 reasons, none of which include a pandemic. A lawsuit filed against Hargett on Friday claims that Tennessee is one of just seven states that haven’t loosened requirements for voting absentee in response to the coronavirus.
“Administering fair, accessible elections during a pandemic is new territory. But we do not have to choose between public health and a functioning democracy,” the caucus writes in its letter. “We have the resources, ability and time to ensure everyone can register, cast a ballot and have their vote counted – without compromising their health.”
In-person voting for Tennessee’s August state primary is scheduled to begin on July 17 and Democrats said every precinct should be approved by a county health official.
“To show voters our commitment to their health and safety, state election officials, in conjunction with the governor’s office, should require that every voting precinct be reviewed and approved by a local or regional health department,” the letter continues. “Health department officials should direct election commissions on the appropriateness of precinct venues, setup and additional measures to prevent virus transmission.”
Some election commissions across the state are reportedly planning to consolidate voting precincts for this year’s elections, but Senate Democrats called this plan “the exact opposite of social distancing.”
“Combining polling locations, at face value, reduces access to voting and increases the number of voters in a single place,” the letter states. “If promoting physical distance and reducing the spread of a highly contagious virus are our shared goals, the state should be providing science-based guidance to local election officials against any counterproductive measures.”
Nationally, Democrats in Congress have introduced a bill that would require every state in the nation to allows its residents to vote by mail during the 2020 election.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee.
If people can wait in line at WalMart people can waitnin line to vote! NYT even reported a couple years ago too easy to cheat or mess up voting with mail in. NO to mail in voting! We cant let the dems cheat!!!
If People can ask the Cops and Military to put their life in jeopardy so we can keep voting,
Then people should put their life in jeopardy “TO VOTE”.
As “Q ED” off at the Politician as I am, it’s nothing compared to the anger I feel toward the general public for outrunning the “Snowflakes” to their “SAFE PLACE”.
I don’t have much respect for people who ask others to do what they won’t do themselves.
Voting at voting precincts with ID’s only!
Fabulous idea!! Let’s get this one into gear and make it a reality. We can do everything else online or by mail.
The Dimocrats just will not give up on trying to corrupt the election process. Absentee voting regulations are already too flimsy. Time to shut down this talking point.
Well if this isn’t the proof that the “plandemic” is just that, then please believe that sand is gold! Wake up America.
Tennesseans are not like Californians where they mail ballots to every registered voter [which includes a lot of people who are deceased and who no longer live at that address, some even having left the state]. Then, in CA, they wait for the ballots to be returned to the election commission. This system lacks proof of voter ID, it allows for fraud by someone who is not the intended voter, but merely is a subsequent occupant of that postal address, and even vote harvesting {where people gather the ballots from the voters and promise to turn them in for them–after being afforded the opportunity to glean the ballots that they think would be friendly to their political beliefs and dispose of the rest}. If we can allow people to purchase food inside Burger King, McDonald’s, and the like, then we can surely find ways to have safe, in person, voting at the polls.
This is nothing more than voter intimidation by the loony left. Anyone unable or unwilling to vote in person due to medical reasons can do so. An unreasonable fear induced by hysteria can certainly be diagnosed by a physician. The impediment to voting is lack of individual effort.
Recipe for expanded voter fraud. All part of the plannedemic.
Where do I send my letter asking for someone to protect my vote from being cancelled out by the votes of illegal aliens, dead people and hacked computers? Absentee voting is another one of those “squishy” little loopholes that compromise election integrity! Absentee voting should be restricted to Military personnel who are stationed or deployed overseas, and elderly people who are confined to a bed. PERIOD!
Voting is not a “right”, it is a responsibility, a requirement, of being a citizen of this Republic. Do your job!
Governor Lee, just say “no”!
There is NO Democrat with an original thought they have to get their marching orders from their socialist leaders before they speak. The answer to the socialist democrat request should be NO ! Show some backbone Governor!
No in person with ID only