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Tennessee bars 500,000 people from voting in 2024 US election; Here's why
The Tennessee Secretary of State states that felons convicted of very serious offenses may or may not be able to reclaim their right to vote.
The upcoming US presidential election will not allow nearly 500,000 people in Tennessee to cast ballots under the new electoral law, which according to critics will adversely affect Black and Latinx voters, Newsweek reported.
Prior to now, only those who had received a pardon or had their voting rights reinstated were eligible to vote if they had been found guilty of specific felonies in Tennessee. The Tennessee Secretary of State states that felons convicted of very serious offenses, such as first-degree murder, may or may not be able to reclaim their right to vote, depending on the year of their conviction.
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Tennessee's people must get gun rights back if they want to vote
The right to bear guns is guaranteed by the Tennessee constitution as a condition of citizenship. However, it is illegal for felons in Tennessee and elsewhere to purchase, possess, or carry firearms after serving their sentence.
According to Campaign Legal Center (CLC) attorney Blair Bowie, those who are convicted of drug felonies or violent crimes "will not be able to restore their gun rights" under Tennessee law.
Tennessee's rights restoration process is the most complicated, punitive, and mismanaged in any state of the United States, as per CLC analysis from 2022.
For instance, "Tennessee is one of only a handful of states that conditions the right to vote on payment of legal debt and the only state that requires a person to be current on child support to restore their voting rights."
How to regain right to vote after felony conviction?
State election authorities interpreted a Tennessee Supreme Court ruling in the summer of 2023 as requiring anyone with felony convictions hoping to regain their right to vote to either demonstrate they have been pardoned or obtain a judge's restoration of their full citizenship rights.
A person with a felony must now seek a pardon from the governor or have their full citizenship rights, including the ability to keep and bear arms, restored by a court. In order to regain the ability to vote, the individual must then proceed with the certificate of restoration process.
According to a 2022 projection by a criminal justice nonprofit -- Sentencing Project, nearly 471,000 people or 9 percent of voting-age people will be unable to cast a ballot because of a felony conviction.
"Tennessee denies voting rights to 21 percent of Black voting age citizens and 8 percent of Latinx voting age citizens due to system involvement. The rate of disenfranchisement for Black Tennesseans is nearly four times the national average for Black Americans," the Sentencing Project previously reported.
Elections officials implemented the modification in July 2023, and it has since stopped nearly all restorations of voting rights.
Only one person was approved out of over 60 applicants. Data from the secretary of state's office shows that approximately 200 people were authorised and 120 denied in the nearly seven months prior to its implementation, reported Associated Press.
