House Rep Griffey Files Legislation Seeking To Ramp Up Election Crime Prosecution In TN

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The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

In the aftermath of the November 2020 Presidential election, election integrity has been at the forefront of political discussions and the subject of a number of bills introduced in state legislatures across the country.  

Last year, Rep. Griffey (R-Paris-District 75) filed and passed the Tennessee Election Integrity Act, which now requires: (1) local election commissions to create unique, non-visible and non-reproducible watermarks on all paper absentee ballots in an effort to deter and detect fraud; and (2) funding used by state and local election officials and commissions from nongovernmental entities to be approved by the Speaker of the House, Speaker of the Senate and Secretary of State.

Griffey states that (2) makes it,  “…much more difficult for those in Big Tech such as Zuckerberg and corporate America to funnel dark money to fund election processes in Tennessee.

This year, Griffey has filed several new election integrity measures.  

The most recent is House Bill 2305 (HB2305), which seeks to ramp up prosecution of election fraud in Tennessee.  Specifically, it requires the Comptroller, Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and each District Attorney in the state to designate personnel in their respective departments as election crime specialists and requires the Tennessee Coordinator of Elections to provide annual training to these designated specialists for the purpose of prosecuting election fraud.  

Griffey’s legislation is similar to that proposed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has called for the formation of an Office of Election Crime and Security to investigate election crime in Florida.

Griffey explained, “Before filing this legislation, I polled my constituents as I usually do.  Improving election integrity was ranked the 3rd most important issue among my constituents (just behind eliminating Covid mandates and preserving 2nd Amendment rights).   

Election reform is not just important to my constituents, but it is a national priority.  Fair and honest elections are fundamental to the success of our republic.  We must ensure that no person’s vote is stolen or diluted by fraud.  

We need a fair and secure election process that restores and inspires the utmost confidence by voters and this legislation to ramp up the prosecution of election fraud is another step in the right direction to get us there,” Griffey concluded.

The Senate companion bill (SB2364) is sponsored by Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma-District 16).

Griffey also has pending legislation this session calling for a paper ballot trail in TN for auditing purposes and permitting poll watchers to take video of proceedings at polling locations throughout TN.