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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
The language in the statement that voters must sign prior to receiving a ballot in a primary election in Tennessee has changed, affirming a law that has been on the state books for decades.
Voters will now essentially pledge allegiance to a political party when they sign for their ballot, agreeing with the statement that they are a “bona fide member” of the party in whose primary they wish to vote. This addition comes from a 1972 Tennessee statute which has always required Tennesseans to vote in only one party’s primary election.
Previous language stated that upon requesting a ballot, a voter declared – under penalty of perjury – that they resided at the address on file, were registered and qualified to vote in the precinct, and that they had not previously voted in the election and would not attempt to do so again.
The changed statement adds, “If this is a primary election, I am a bona fide member of and affiliated with the political party in whose primary I seek to vote; or I declare allegiance to the political party in whose primary I seek to vote and state that I intend to affiliate with that party.”
The new allegiance pledge added to the ballot comes after the Tennessee General Assembly passed the “bona fide” law three years ago. The law mandates that each polling place post signs reminding voters that it is against the law to cast a ballot in a partisan primary election if they are not a “bona fide” member of the party in question.
While the law did not define what “bona fide” means, Tennessee Republican Party bylaws state that to be considered “bona fide,” a voter must have voted in every one of the last three statewide Republican primaries in the county where they live.
In response to conservatives calling for closed primaries, some Republican lawmakers have been working to pass legislation this year that would require voters to register with their party of choice ninety days before the party’s primary election in order to cast a ballot.
Those efforts were quashed in the House Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee on Monday when a bill sponsored by Representative Chris Todd (R-Madison County-District 73) failed in a tie vote of 6 to 6. Four Republicans – Representatives John Gillespie (R-Memphis-District 97), Gary Hicks (R-Rogersville-District 9), Tim Hicks (R-Gray-District 6), and Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville-District 42) – joined two Democrats in voting against the measure.
Additional Sources:
Sources:
https://www.wjhl.com/video/tennessee-voting-form-includes-new-text-about-party-affiliation/11707688
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
Since these private political club elections called primaries are not in any way required by the state constitution, why should taxpayers have to fund them at all? This issue only seems to exist for Republicans and Democrats. All other private political parties seem to determine their nominees just fine without taking taxpayer money for their private clubs. Maybe if I call them million dollar election vouchers the Big Two could understand?
Why would I have to declare allegiance to some private political party to vote in an election I help pay for? How much allegiance does a life long Democrat like John DeBerry (no offense John) have to the Republican party? When the same party is kicking Republicans off primary ballots that have donated their time/labor and money to party causes, why would I be allegiant to their fraudulent, rigged primary ballot? When their worthless party incumbents continue year after year to violate the constitutional rights of the citizens and the feckless party won’t even police their own, why do I have to declare allegiance to that? Why should I ask my neighbors to fund your rigged primaries?
So far, so good.