New Legislation To Be Filed To Protect TN Election Integrity

Photo Credit: capitol.tn.gov & Gage Skidmore / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) has drafted new legislation to add protections to Tennessee’s election process with the aim of applying the new rules to the 2022 elections and all elections thereafter.

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The Act aims to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, relative to elections.

Section 1 of Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 9 is amended by adding the following as a new section.

  1. This section applies to the 2022 elections and all elections thereafter
  1. Beginning with the 2022 election cycle and notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a county election commission shall not use voting machines or ballot marking devices.  Each county election commission shall use hand-marked paper ballots, which must be counted using an optical ballot scanner.
  1. A county election commission shall not select an optical scan ballot scanner that uses proprietary software.  The software must be open to public inspection before and after the election.
  1. If a county election commission cannot acquire the necessary equipment to implement this section before the 2022 elections, the county election commission may request the secretary of state for an extension to 2024 for compliance.
  1. The state shall share in at least fifty percent (50%) of the cost of a county election commission complying with this section, subject to appropriations.

Section 2 of Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-7-104 is amended by adding the following as a new subsection:

( ) Poll watchers may take video of the proceedings at the polling place.

Section 3 of Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-5-704 is amended by adding the following as a new subsection:

( ) The coordinator of elections shall prescribe security features that must be used on paper ballots.  The security features may include watermarks, fluorescence, digital holograms, or any other technology that ensures the ballots cannot be duplicated.  The coordinator of elections may change the ballot security features from election to election.

Section 4 of Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-7-113 is amended by deleting the section.

Section 5: Section 4 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2024, the public welfare requiring it.  The remaining sections of this Act take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.

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The act aims to delete Section 4 (2-7-113) due to the fact it has to do with procedures at polling places when voting by machine, which will no longer be relevant if the Act becomes law.

Representative Griffey drafted the new Act, along with aid from the Legislative Attorney for the Tennessee General Assembly, Joshua Houston.

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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 Directory 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

5 thoughts on “New Legislation To Be Filed To Protect TN Election Integrity

  • November 19, 2021 at 2:11 am
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    Hallelujah! Let’s hope this gets passed. I had no luck discussing election fraud with officials here in Blount County. They are convinced there is no way their machines could’ve been hacked. I guess they haven’t seen the expert witness testify before Congress about how he and his company had hacked all the machines.

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    • November 20, 2021 at 2:18 am
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      We had the same issue here in Fentress. Even though the machines are 15 years old and could easily be tampered with the election official here brushed off the issue most likely because he wanted it to go away and not have to make a effort to takes steps to replace the machines with secure paper ballots filled out by voters and scanners.

      Reply
  • November 19, 2021 at 8:43 pm
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    This is excellent legislation. It would be a huge step towards improving election integrity in TN.

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  • November 20, 2021 at 12:17 am
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    It would be wonderful if our TN Legislature would pass this bill and take control of our elections for the state. The federal Election Assistance Commission is moving towards federalizing the election process. By passing a bill like this with a high security, hand-marked paper ballot TN would have a gold standard for chain of custody and audit trail, something the state does NOT have now. We also need mandatory, random risk-limiting audits after every election!

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  • November 27, 2021 at 2:30 pm
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    I hope that Representative Griffey gets support for this Bill. We must write our district Reps and Senators to help convince them to join this campaign for paper ballots in TN.

    Reply

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