TN Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Redrawn State Senate Maps
Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Tennessee’s Supreme Court threw out an injunction against the state’s redrawn maps on Wednesday, issuing a decision that is not eligible for appeal.
The ruling creates a new filing deadline of 4 p.m. on Thursday for state Senate seats.
The Supreme Court decision stated that the prior court “failed to adequately consider the harm the injunction will have on our election officials who are detrimentally impacted by the extension of the candidate filing deadline, as well as the public interest in ensuring orderly elections and avoiding voter confusion.”
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The previous ruling from a three-judge panel was based on a lawsuit challenge of the map based on the fact the Senate districts in Davidson County were numbered 17, 19, 20 and 21.
The lawsuit said this is important because senatorial terms are four years but half of a county’s districts should be up for reelection every two years and the election cycle is determined by whether the district number is even or odd.
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery filed an extraordinary appeal of a chancery court ruling that stated the injunction would cause the state and election cycle harm heading into the Aug. 4 primary and Nov. 8 general election.
The appeal also said moving the Senate filing deadline to May 5 will affect the process of creating ballots and sending them to military overseas voters. The withdrawal deadline would then be May 12, with the review deadline May 21, allowing 21 days to prepare the many ballot styles for the election, which the lawsuit said includes 1,000 different ballot styles in Shelby County alone.
The lawsuit was funded by the Tennessee Democratic Party on behalf of Davidson County’s Akilah Moore, Shelby County’s Telise Turner and Gibson County’s Gary Wygant.
The defendants in the suit are listed as Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Secretary of State Tre Hargett and Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins.
States are required to redraw representative maps every 10 years after the U.S. Census. Lee signed the Legislature-approved maps into law Feb. 6.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
