Gov. Lee Signs Act To Stop Illegal Aliens From Voting In TN Into Law

Image Credit: Thomas R Machnitzki / CC & Public Domain

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

On Friday, April 29th, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed legislation into law that aims to prevent illegal aliens from voting in the Volunteer state.

Senate Bill 2245 (SB2245), sponsored by Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald-District 28), and House Bill 2128 (HB2128), sponsored by Representative John Crawford (R-Bristol/Kingsport-District 1), as amended, expressly prohibits an individual who is not a citizen of the United States from voting in a federal, state, or local election and for a county, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state from granting voting rights to a person who is not a United States citizen. 

The Act also authorizes certain information received from the Coordinator of Elections to be utilized in an address verification program implemented by a county election commission. 

In addition the Act requires that a federal jury coordinator provide certain information regarding disqualified jurors to the Coordinator of Elections when selecting jurors from a list of registered voters.

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House Bill 2128 first passed the House of Representatives on April 4th unanimously.

However, when the Senate opted to drop Sections 5 & 6 from the original bill, the House did concur but the votes switched from 92 to 0 in favor to 83 to 10 in favor on April 11th, with the ‘Nay’ votes coming from the Democrats.

The sections deleted in the Senate amendment and accepted by the House included:

SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-7-116(a)(2), is amended by deleting the subdivision and substituting: (2) The officer of elections shall keep a record of each such declaration, including the name of the voter and of the person marking the ballot, reason for assistance, and, if marked by a judge, the name of the judge or other official in whose presence the ballot was marked. The record must be certified and kept with the poll books on forms to be provided by the coordinator of elections. 

SECTION 6. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-7-116(b)(2), is amended by deleting the subdivision and substituting: (2) The officer of elections shall keep a record of each such declaration, including the name of the voter and of the person marking the ballot, reason for assistance, and, if marked by a judge, the name of the judge or other official in whose presence the ballot was marked. The record must be certified and kept with the poll books on forms to be provided by the coordinator of elections

The Senate voted to pass the amended legislation in a 25 to 5 vote in favor on April 4th, with only Democrats voting against.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton signed the bill on April 14th, followed by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally on the 18th.  On the 19th, the bill was transmitted to Governor Lee for action.  Ten days later, Lee signed the legislation into law on April 29th.

The text from the bill states that the legislation goes into effect immediately upon becoming law.

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 Director 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