A Tennessee House subcommittee is set to vote next week on a bill that would allow some prison inmates to vote from their respective correctional facilities.
HB 2101, introduced by State Representative Johnny Shaw (D-Bolivar), “creates a polling place pilot program in Davidson County jails to provide eligible inmates the opportunity to vote,” according to the text of the bill.
The House Subcommittee on Elections & Campaign Finance was set to vote on the bill Wednesday but punted to March 16.
Its Senate counterpart, SB 1957, is up for a vote in the Senate State and Local Government Committee on March 15, as the bill makes its way through the General Assembly.
A summary of the bill says the following:
Only a resident of Davidson County who is in custody at a county jail will be eligible to vote at a satellite voting location established under this bill.
This bill requires jails in Davidson County to:
(1) Provide a voter registration application to a person in custody at the jail who requests an application and who is determined to be eligible to vote; and
(2) Make available current resource materials, maintained by the county election commission and secretary of state, containing detailed information regarding the voting rights of a person with a criminal conviction in print.
But the bill faces a tough path to becoming law.
Republicans control both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly, meaning that they have majorities on both committees. Historically, they are opposed to such legislation.
The Tennessee Star reached out to State Rep. Dave Wright (R-Knoxville), a member of the House Subcommittee on Elections & Campaign Finance, for comment about the status of the bill, and whether he thought it had any chance of becoming law.
Wright did not return the comment request.
There are only a few places in the United States where imprisoned Americans can vote, but Democrats are looking to add to the list.
In the Harris County Jail – Texas’ largest correctional facility – inmates were allowed to vote for the first time last November.
Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. also have laws allowing inmates to vote.
_ _ _
Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “People Voting” by Ben Schumin. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Guess the Dems figure that the inmates would CONTINUE to vote Democrat.