Legislation Designed To Increase Accountability For Local County Election Commissions By Requiring Them To Check Applicants Registering To Vote Against The SAVE Program Prior To Adding Them To Voter Rolls Failed In A Tennessee House Subcommittee With The Help Of 5 Republican Votes.
Image Credit: TN General Assembly
Tennessee Conservative News Staff-
Legislation designed to increase accountability for local county election commissions by requiring them to check applicants registering to vote against the SAVE program prior to adding them to voter rolls failed in the House Elections and Campaign Finance Subcommittee on Wednesday.
House Bill 1897 (HB1897), sponsored by State Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill-D92), would require county election commissions to check the federal database to determine eligibility, instead of just relying on state level checks.
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.
After discussion, the vote was taken and the legislation failed, receiving 6 nayes and only 1 aye vote from Representative Tom Leatherwood (R-Arlington-D99).
Contact information for the members of the House Elections and Campaign Finance Subcommittee who voted against Tennessee Election Integrity can be found below:
Rep.tim.rudd@capitol.tn.gov; rep.rush.bricken@capitol.tn.gov; rep.dan.howell@capitol.tn.gov; rep.jerome.moon@capitol.tn.gov; rep.jason.powell@capitol.tn.gov; rep.dave.wright@capitol.tn.gov
The companion Senate Bill 2124 (SB2124), sponsored by State Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma-D16), was referred to the State and Local Government Committee but has not yet been placed on that calendar.
