Lee Suggested That If Every State Across The Country Ran Their Election Processes As Tennessee Has Done, There Would Be “No Delays And No Scandal.”
Photo: Governor Bill Lee Praises Tennessee’s 2020 Election Processes During State of the State Address
Published February 9, 2021
Just a few weeks ago, we watched as individuals stormed our nation’s Capitol in response to the 2020 election.
Throughout the process, many states made objections to the electoral results that were echoed in different parts of the country, including Tennessee.
Despite public outrage and increasing concerns about fraudulent election results, the electoral votes were confirmed.
Though this wasn’t without a great deal of speculation and reaction from the Republican Senate, many of whom maintain their desire to improve this democratic process.
Tennesseeans have garnered a great deal of attention specifically after some resident’s involvement in the Capitol riot, but the negative press about a passionate response may be overshadowing the principle purpose of protecting rights and privileges.
Gov. Bill Lee produced his third State of the State address this week. Although his $41.8 billion budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year was the main highlight of the release, Lee made an intriguing statement in response to the results.
Lee suggested that if every state across the country ran election processes as Tennessee had done, there would be “no delays and no scandal.”
Lee continued to address 2020 election issues, stating that he maintains concerns about “our country’s faith in the integrity of our election process.” Nonetheless, he believes Tennessee “stayed above” controversy in the election and voting process.
State officials say Tennessee easily broke the 2008 record for voter turnout with more than 3 million ballots cast in November’s general election.
Buoyed by early/absentee voting due to Coronavirus, voters surpassed turnout totals of more than 2.5 million in the 2016 general election as well.
Gov. Lee credited Secretary of State Tre Hargett for his, “leadership to ensure Tennessee elections have integrity and that we do our part to protect the democratic process.”
He continued citing the constitution, “with elections behind us, we will watch with patriotic skepticism to see if politicians in Washington try to force more government on the states than the Tenth Amendment allows,” Lee said.
The Tenth Amendment was added to the Bill of Rights to further define the balance of power between the federal government and the states.
The amendment says that the federal government has only those powers specifically granted by the Constitution.
These powers include the power to declare war, to collect taxes, to regulate interstate business activities and some others listed in the article.
However, any power not listed, says the Tenth Amendment, is left to the states or the people.
Governor Lee used his address to acknowledge the patriots who protect voting processes in Tennessee and also to encourage constituents to learn more about their rights.
“Why?” he asked. “Because Tennessee knows what we need a lot better than the federal government. Perhaps one of the most important lessons that has come out of this season is that Americans need to understand how their government works.”
