Rep Griffey Files Bill Aimed At Establishing Trust In Tennessee Elections (Update 2/3/22)

***Article Update 2/3/22 – The original version of Griffey’s bill HB1662 was withdrawn on 2/2/22 but reintroduced as HB2074 along with a Senate companion bill SB2359, sponsored by Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma).  On 2/2/22, HB2074 was assigned to the Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee.  Also on 2/2/22, SB2359 was introduced and passed on first consideration.  Article content below has been updated to reflect these changes.***

Photo Credit: State Representative Bruce Griffey – Facebook / LaLeBan – CC / Public Domain

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

Tennessee House Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) has filed a new bill with the aim of reestablishing trust in the Tennessee elections.

“If people don’t have trust in our elections, then we have major problems,” Griffey said in an interview with The Tennessee Conservative.

Griffey’s bill (House Bill 2074) seeks to establish a verifiable paper trail for every ballot cast in the Volunteer state, thereby alleviating concerns that election results could be tampered with digitally.

“If there ever is a dispute, people will be able to go in for a recount on physical paper ballots,” Griffey said, “The bill will allow for verification without going into a computer.”

The bill states that county election commissions shall not use voting machines or ballot marking  devices. Each county election commission shall use hand-marked paper ballots, which must then be counted using an optical ballot scanner. 

Further, the bill orders that the optical scanners used may not use proprietary software and that the software must be open to public inspection before and after any election.

The bill outlines that the coordinator of elections must prescribe security features that must be  used on the paper ballots. The security features may include watermarks, fluorescence, digital holograms, or any other technology that ensures the ballots cannot be duplicated.  The coordinator of elections may change the ballot security features from election to election.

To provide even more security of the election process, the bill states that poll watchers may take video of the proceedings at polling places.

Griffey told the Tennessee Conservative that he hopes the bill will be passed and implemented in time for the 2022 elections, but doubts this will happen due to the new setups to accommodate the orders in the bill at Tennessee’s polling places.

Griffey also stated that the bill still needs a sponsor in the Tennessee Senate.  Afterwhich, the bill must undergo the whole legislative process.

However, Griffey stated that it is of the utmost importance that the bill’s orders are all implemented before the 2024 Presidential elections so Tennesseans can be assured their votes are counted properly without fear of tampering.  

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Griffey also issued a call to action for Tennesseans, “I hope everybody will get behind it (HB1662) and get their Reps and Senators on board so we can have trust in our elections in Tennessee.”

Find your State Senators and Representatives HERE.

View the full bill 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