Black Voter Group Wins In Voter Registration Case In Memphis

Voters cast their ballot at a Chattanooga, Tennessee, polling station on Super Tuesday March 6, 2012. Republican voters make their way to the polls in the Super Tuesday primary elections in 10 US states where 437 del... Voters cast their ballot at a Chattanooga, Tennessee, polling station on Super Tuesday March 6, 2012. Republican voters make their way to the polls in the Super Tuesday primary elections in 10 US states where 437 delegates are at stake. AFP PHOTO Stephane JOURDAIN (Photo credit should read stephane jourdain/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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A state court judge in Tennessee ruled Thursday that Shelby County, which contains Memphis, must let voters whose registrations were stalled due to incomplete information to vote with regular ballots on Election Day, once the deficiencies are corrected.

The ruling came in a case brought by the Tennessee Black Voter Project, which saw thousands of registrations forms it turned in deemed incomplete by the Shelby County Elections Commission.

The legal fight over the registration forms comes as Tennessee is the site of a close U.S. Senate race between former Gov.  Phil Bredesen (D) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R). Memphis is home to a concentration of Tennessee’s African American vote.

The NAACP joined the Tennessee Black Voter Project in bringing the lawsuit.

The county had set up a system for affected voters who vote early to call a help line at their polling place, provide the missing information and then vote with a regular ballot. However, election officials said such a system wasn’t logistically possible on Election Day itself, and voters in that situation would have to vote provisionally instead.

The challengers had raised concerns that many of those provisional ballots would never be counted.

Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins, at a hearing Thursday, sided with the challengers, according to a report in the Commercial Appeal, and ordered that the county let those voters vote with regular ballots on Election Day as well, once they have corrected the missing information on their registration forms.

Election officials, who say they will appeal Jenkins’ ruling, complained that letting those voters vote regularly on Election Day will make the county vulnerable to voter fraud, according to the Commercial Appeal.

“It’s possible under the format you’re suggesting for fraud to be committed,” elections administrator Linda Phillips said, testifying that the precinct poll books aren’t connected on Election Day, making it possible for people to vote multiple times, according to the report.

Jenkins also ordered that the commission notify the voters whose registrations are stalled by deficiencies on their forms, the Commercial Appeal reported, and that the commission provide for the groups who sued them a list of the people whose registrations have not been completed.

The commission has estimated that around 55 percent of the 10,000 ballots the Tennessee Black Voter Project had turned in the lead-up to the registration deadline had been deemed invalid, but those also include duplicates as well as those rejected for felony convictions.

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Notable Replies

  1. Score one for justice!!!

  2. Avatar for docb docb says:

    Great news but said thatAmerican citizens have to go to court to be able to exercise their rights…

    The rethugs / toadstool donnie are despicable

  3. elections administrator Linda Phillips said, testifying that the precinct poll books aren’t connected on Election Day, making it possible for people to vote multiple times,

    Yet another episode in the endless series known as GOP victimology and projection. We tried to keep “those people” from voting and now thanks to the situation we created they might be able to vote twice if they act the same way we would.

  4. And, and, don’t forget the dreaded voter fraud. The Rethugs are particularly worried about this because they’re so good at it and they don’t want the Dems to get any ideas.

  5. Avatar for gr gr says:

    Good news, of course, IF it allows people to cast votes that are counted.
    Sometimes these court victories don’t convert into votes cast.

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