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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
On Wednesday, March 11, the House Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee will hear a bill designed to increase accountability for local county election commissions by requiring them to check applicants registering to vote against the SAVE program before adding them to the voter rolls to ensure only U.S. citizens can vote.
With the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) expansion of no-cost accessibility to the systematic alien verification for entitlement (SAVE) program to be available to any state election official down to the county level, HB1897 by Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hills-District 92) would require counties to check and maintain voter rolls against the SAVE database to ensure non-U.S. citizens are not being placed on the voter rolls.
Existing law already requires the state’s coordinator of elections to compare the statewide voter registration database to the Tennessee Department of Safety’s database and notify county election officials of any registered voters who may not be citizens, but comparison of the rolls to any federal agencies, the SAVE database, or county records to verify citizenship is only optional.
This piece of legislation would not change any of these requirements or options for the state coordinator of elections but would instead foster local accountability with the requirement for county election commissions to directly access the SAVE database.
Additionally, the bill would further require counties to check their entire voter registration list through the SAVE database at least once per quarter “to ensure non-United States citizens are not on the voter rolls in the county”, which could help increase election integrity by making sure local voter rolls are being more consistently and thoroughly examined and increasing the frequency of purges so non-eligible voters are removed from the rolls faster.
The Senate companion, SB2124, is carried by Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma-District 16) and has been assigned to the Senate State and Local Government Committee, though it does not yet have a hearing date.
To contact members of the House Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee about this bill before the meeting on Wednesday, use the information below:
House Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee– HB1897 to be heard on March 11
HB1897 requires county election commissions to compare their voter rolls to the SAVE database
Rep.tim.rudd@capitol.tn.gov; rep.rush.bricken@capitol.tn.gov; rep.dan.howell@capitol.tn.gov; rep.tom.leatherwood@capitol.tn.gov; rep.jerome.moon@capitol.tn.gov; rep.jason.powell@capitol.tn.gov; rep.dave.wright@capitol.tn.gov
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
