The Tennessee Supreme Court struck down a temporary injunction issued by a three-judge panel that would have mandated drawing new state Senate districts.
Originally, a ruling from the lower court forced the legislative body to “fix” the boundaries within 15 days of the decision, or the judicial branch would have created its own map.
However, the Supreme Court’s opinion, written by Chief Justice Roger Page, does not rule on the constitutionality of the districts, which is the main focus of the lawsuit supported by the Tennessee Democratic Party.
“The order of the trial court granting the Plaintiffs a temporary injunction is vacated, and the case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. The Defendants’ motion to stay the injunction pending appeal is denied as moot,” the majority opinion explained.
The Court delivered the decision because the lower court “failed to adequately consider the harm the injunction will have on the election officials who are detrimentally impacted by the extension and also failed to adequately consider the public interest in ensuring orderly elections and avoiding voter confusion.”
Furthermore, the decision implemented a new filing deadline for candidates seeking a position in the state Senate for Thursday, April 14. The previous ruling from the lower court extended the deadline to May 5.
Notably, Justice Sharon G. Lee disagreed with the majority opinion, arguing the decision should be affirmed.
“By extending the deadline only to May 5, the three-judge panel gave election officials sufficient time to prepare, print, and send the ballots. Nothing in the record shows that state and local election officials will find it impossible to comply with election deadlines or that chaos will ensue based on a May 5 qualifying deadline,” Lee wrote.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Tennessee State Supreme Court” by Thomas R. Machnitzki. CC BY 3.0.
