Image Credit: Canva
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
A second lawsuit has been filed to challenge legislation that requires that signage be posted at all Tennessee polling locations notifying voters that they must be “bona fide” members of a party in order to vote in the primary election.
The Tennessee law was passed in 2023, requiring all polling places to display signs that tell voters that it is against the law to vote in a political party’s primary without being a “bona fide” member of or affiliated with that particular political party. Signs must also state that it is illegal to declare allegiance to a political party without any intention of associating with the party.
The signs are a reference to a state law passed in 1972, making it a crime to vote in a primary unless you meet those qualifications.
Former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe, the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, and bipartisan voters from across Tennessee first brought a suit in November.
That lawsuit was dismissed the day before Super Tuesday, which took place on March 5.
U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson ruled that the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit lacked standing to sue. This time, however, Ashe believes they have cleared up issues leading to that dismissal.
“Now that the Tennessee presidential primary has occurred, and we know of individuals who did not exercise their right to vote because of this law, I’m hopeful the court will hear the merits of this case,” Ashe said.
One of the group’s primary arguments against the law is that it is vague concerning the definition of “bona fide.” Ashe says he is a “bona fide” Republican and has voted as a Republican for his entire life. He is also, however, willing to express criticism towards Republicans in his weekly column with Knox News when he feels it is appropriate.
“I find it rather shocking because it allows someone other than me to decide if I’m a bona fide member of the Republican Party,” Ashe stated.
In the state of Tennessee, voters do not register with a particular political party. Instead, primaries are “open”, meaning voters are free to choose the ballot for the party of their choice at the polls.
Some Republicans have pushed for Tennessee to require voters to register by party in an attempt to discourage voters from trying to cast ballots in the opposite party’s primary for the purpose of swaying the results of the final election. Those efforts have not yet garnered enough support to move in the Legislature.
8 Responses
Big tempest in a little teapot! This law was passed by the centrist/tepid conservatives who like those Democrats coming on over to vote against conservatives in the Republican primaries. The law was a coin to make the vast majority of Republican voters who want to close the primaries shut-up and go away. Never go away conservatives, until they close those primaries!
Passed in 1972. Democrat controlled. Same year as the blatantly unconstitutional Tennessee Sunshine law that stole electing judges by the people and allowed the executive and legislative branches to conspire to create the judicial. Republicans liked eliminating the people’s vote so good they made a constitutional amendment to legalize it after 40 years of crime. The Big Two are worthless. The polling places and the “machines” belong to the people – who paid for them – not private political clubs.
Elections in many counties are 100% rigged, Williamson probably being the most egregious.
AW, ya’ll can stop complaining about voting, even stop voting,
Congress just passed a law allowing “Illegal Immigrants” to vote,
so your vote one way or the other won’t matter,
might as well shut up and go on back to sleep.
At least now you know “WHY” Biden opened the Border, and allocated 3.5 Billion to fly people from the middle East to the USA.
Did I mention that was “Muslim Country”???
Worse act of “TREASON” ever committed against this country.
Just go on back to sleep, they’ll let you know when the USA no longer exist.
Of course liberal Knoxville mayor will complain. Shocked the party defines ‘bona fide’? What an idiot. No, he’s lying scum. Pandering to the party line.
Little Jimmy is technically incorrect in his first opening statement. The “zero” tape is printed the first thing election day morning and provides evidence the machines are not preloaded with vote counts. Each scanner at the precinct prints a zero tape. The tape or print out is retained at the precinct and can be examined by anyone who asked during the day. At the end of the day, each scanner prints four copies of the “results” tape.” One of these copies is required to be posted. Such that people may see it after the precinct is closed. It is the results tape, not the zero tape, that needs to be posted.
As for the composition of the State Executive Committee, I don’t think Mr. Madison has been to an SEC meeting lately. If he has, then his definition of a southern Democrat, and my definition of an SEC Member are almost polar opposites.
We should require voter allegiance. Once every election. You vote in a primary you have to vote for the same party in the election.
There have to be some rules.
This is an interesting lawsuit. It was filed on May 1st. in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee as case number 3-24-cv-00538. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are asking the courts to prohibit the state from enforcing Tennessee Code Annotated Sections 2-7-115(b) and (c). Section 2-7-115(c) was added to the code last year as public chapter 473 effective 5/17/2023. Section 2-7-115(b) has basically been the law since 1972 when the Democrat controlled general assembly passed a complete rewrite of our election laws. One of the current plaintiff’s, Victor Ashe, was a sponsor of the 1972 legislation.
The plaintiffs claim the Code does not define what it is to be a “bona fide” member of either party. Actually, each party defines, in their bylaws, what they (the party) consider to be a bona fide member. The definitions are different. For instance, the Democrats define it as – “A bona fide Democrat is defined as an individual whose record of public service, actions, accomplishment, public writings and/or public statements affirmatively demonstrates that they are faithful to the interests, welfare and success of the Democratic Party of the United States and of the State of Tennessee.” [Article IV, Section 1]
The Republicans have this as their definition – “For the purpose of this Article, a “bona fide Republican” is defined as an individual who (a) is actively involved in the Tennessee Republican Party, the county Republican Party of the county in which the individual resides, or a TRP-recognized auxiliary organization; (b) is registered to vote in the above-noted county; and (c) who has voted in at least three (3) of the four (4) most recent statewide Republican primary elections in which he is eligible to vote.” [Article IX, Section 1(A)(1)]
To properly evaluate this lawsuit and legislation we must understand there are two basic types of elections – primary elections and general elections. Primary elections are a party function which the state, for whatever reason, has decided to fund for the parties. Primary elections are where the members of the party determine who will be their nominee for the office being sought. There are a considerable number of people who feel they have the right to vote in primary elections. Actually, primaries are only for members of that party. Democrats should only vote in the democrat primary; Republicans should only vote in the republican primary; and independents should not vote in either.
The general election is where the nominee is elected to fill the office. General elections are open to all voters and are non-partisan such that the voter may vote on the same ballot for different parties for different offices as they deem desirable.