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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) recently filed the Verify Our Tennessee Elections (VOTE) Act that requests that the Tennessee Secretary of State and the State Election Commission launch an investigation into Tennessee’s 2020 election results, including the results of both the Congressional and Presidential races.
Senate Bill 1657 states that the investigation must focus on the results for the Presidential race and for each United States congressional race in this state.
The bill calls for the Tennessee Secretary of State to perform the following:
(1) A forensic audit of each ballot, including absentee ballots, available for review from the 2020 general election;
(2) A complete canvassing of each ballot, including absentee ballots, for purposes of confirming the vote tallies for each race; and
(3) A thorough review of the chain of custody for ballots, including absentee ballots, ballot boxes, and voting machines and equipment.
In addition, the legislation states that for the purposes of carrying out this ACT, the Secretary of State has broad authority to:
• Conduct the investigation in the manner most likely to yield accurate and reliable results, including the authority to examine witnesses and subpoena documents and records other than ballots relative to the investigation that the secretary of state reasonably believes will assist in carrying out the investigation; and
• Establish deadlines for purposes of producing ballots, documents, records, machines, equipment, and other information.
Further, the bill charges that each county election commission and state and local election official must fully cooperate with the Secretary of State and meet each deadline and warns that if said officials do not cooperate with the investigation, the attorney general and reporter shall seek a writ of mandamus in a court of competent jurisdiction ordering the commission or official to comply.
If the bill passes into law, the Secretary of State is charged to complete the investigation no later than December 31st, 2022 and report the findings to the Governor, the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than January 2st, 2023.
The Tennessee Conservative reached out to Bowling for comment on her legislation but we have not heard back from her at the time of publication.
However, the Tennessean reports that Bowling’s legislation is unlikely to advance, stating that Republican leadership expressed little interest in the measure and cites the “lack of evidence” of voting irregularities in Tennessee during the 2020 election.
The Tennessean goes on to state that Bowling’s measure “echoes baseless conspiracy theories among some Republicans that fraudulent activities led to a rigged election.”
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In January, nearly two dozen Tennessee legislators, including Bowling, sent a letter to urge U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty to reject the electoral college votes.
In response to Bowling’s legislation, the office of Secretary of State Hargett stated that Tennesseans should be confident with the 2020 election results in Tennessee due to the state’s “strong integrity laws” and “hard work performed by Tennessee election officials”.
The office of Lt. Gov. Randy McNally stated that there was no evidence of widespread voting irregularities in Tennessee during the 2020 election and that her legislation appears to be “a solution in search of a problem.”
Over the last year, many Tennesseans have questioned election integrity both Nationally and within the state. Concerns have also been raised that the popular vote results for Trump were not as high in this Red state as one would expect at only 60.66% in 2020, with 2016 popular vote results reported as 60.72%.
As Tennessee’s elections have not been put under the microscope, like many of the states where the 2020 election results were challenged, the carrying out of the orders in Bowling’s bill could help prove or disprove the claims of officials that Tennessee has strong election integrity.
View SB1657 HERE.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Directory for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
7 Responses
Too Much Too Late!!
Too Little Too Late.
Mcnally, says there is no wide spread evidence to show anything is wrong?? Well how does he know this as there has never been an audit?? Mcnally is an idiot and should keep his mouth shut as he has no idea what he is talking about. Yes we should have an audit. Every state in this country should audit their election. TN. now wants to buy more Dominion voting machines. If you want someone to screw a state or county up give it to a politician.
I’ve known and worked with Janice for years and every bill that she files has a purpose and a reason. She does not seek headlines, just solutions. I know of countless bills she filed that were for the greater good of the state that were knocked down in committee by RINOS and special interests. Janie is one of the best and most reliable Senators in this state. Considering that the guy who could not get elected dog catcher in his own state got more votes than Obama, and the most popular sitting president, it is time to do some real investigations!
Senator McNally rejects this bill because there is no evidence of “widespread voting irregularities” and the Republican leadership cites the “lack of evidence” of voting irregularities. No surprise, since there has been no effort to find any such irregularities. It seems that politicians who are genuinely concerned about the security of the ballot would expect such an audit every election, not just when there is some controversy. If the ballot is sacred, as most of them claim, then assuring it is conducted with strict rules and strict oversight should be their first priority. And reporting the audit and its results to the people would be their duty as public servants.
What’s there to be afraid of? If there’s election fraud why not be transparent and prove it? The Secretary of State loves to answer any election integrity questions with “it’s illegal to audit or question TN election” now why would it be illegal to audit the election? This alone should be enough to make a voter suspicious.
We most certainly do have election problems as long as we have these machines. I’ve listened to senate testimony that every one of them can be hacked into. Our politicians are either paid off or dumb as dirt, probably both. If they keep ignoring the issue, we will watch ALL of our red states slowly turn blue over the years, giving the appearance that America is going liberal.