Legislation To Clean Up Voter Rolls Heads To Senate And House Committees
Image Credit: Gage Skidmore / CC
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Two bills aimed at cleaning up voter rolls in Tennessee are scheduled to be considered in both House and Senate Committees next week.
Both bills, sponsored by State Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald-District 28), propose new procedures that would remove those individuals who have died, former residents who moved out of state, and non-U.S. citizens who are not legally registered to vote.
Senate Bill 0136 (SB0136), as introduced, requires reports of deaths in relation to maintaining voter registration lists to include the date of death and also requires the coordinator of elections to prepare a report for the general assembly regarding death of registered voters.
The companion House Bill 0246 (HB0246) is sponsored by Representative Jody Barrett (R-Dickson-District 69).
Senate Bill 0137 (SB0137), as introduced, requires the coordinator of elections to compare the statewide voter registration database with those of other relevant state agencies and county records when compiling information to distribute to the county elections commissions for purposes of purging voters who have moved. It also requires the coordinator of elections to compare the statewide voter registration database with the department of safety database to ensure non-U.S. citizens are not registered to vote in the state.
Representative Bryan Richey (R-Maryville-District 20) is the sponsor of the companion House Bill 0835 (HB0835).
Currently, in Tennessee, there is no requirement that the State Coordinator of Elections do any kind of check immigration status of potential voters on the SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) database to be certain that they are, in fact, legally entitled to vote in the United States.
Both Senate bills have been placed on the Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for March 21st. The House bills will be considered by the House Elections and Campaign Finance Subcommittee on March 22nd.
Anyone who would like to express support for these pieces of legislation is encouraged to contact Senate and House members using the contact information below prior to those meeting dates:
Senate State and Local Government Committee
Sen. Richard Briggs (R) (Chair) – sen.richard.briggs@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1766
Sen. Page Walley (R) (Vice-Chair) – sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2368
Sen. Mark Pody (R) (2nd Vice-Chair) – sen.mark.pody@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2421
Sen. Ed Jackson (R) – sen.ed.jackson@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1810
Sen. Sara Kyle (D) – sen.sara.kyle@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4167
Sen. Adam Lowe (R) – sen.adam.lowe@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1946
Sen. John Stevens (R) – sen.john.stevens@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4576
Sen. Ken Yager (R) – sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1449
Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D) – sen.jeff.yarbro@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3291
House Elections and Campaign Finance Subcommittee
Rep. Tim Rudd (R) – Chair – rep.tim.rudd@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2804
Rep. Jeff Burkhart (R) – rep.jeff.burkhart@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6804
Rep. John Crawford (R) – rep.john.crawford@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7623
Rep. Clay Doggett (R) – rep.clay.doggett@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7476
Rep. Esther Helton-Haynes (R) – rep.esther.helton@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1934
Rep. Larry Miller (R) – rep.larry.miller@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4453
Rep. Jerome Moon (R) – rep.jerome.moon@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-5481
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
