NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Update (2/7): Rep. Elaine Davis (R-Knoxville) said she has withdrawn her bill from consideration in the State Legislature that attempted to get rid of early voting in Tennessee.
Davis introduced House Bill 1099 on Jan. 31, which as written would delete portions of state law that establish and outline procedures for early voting. A week later on Tuesday, Davis' office said she had withdrawn the bill from consideration in the House -- saying the bill did not represent her intention in its current form:
“Fair, secure and accessible elections are the foundation of our democracy. Preserving the integrity of our most important civic duty is something I take very seriously. This bill in its current form does not represent my intention, which has always been to protect the right to vote as well as the integrity of our elections. For that reason, I will withdraw the bill from consideration in the House. Tennessee elections are among the most secure and accessible in the nation. I will always strive to encourage greater voter participation and support legislation that strengthens election integrity.”
Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) sponsored the Senate counterpart bill, which was still active as of Tuesday.
UT Professor Emeritus of Political Science Bill Lyons said early voting is key to expanding access, while maintaining the safety of elections.
"A very reliable way to make voting more convenient," Lyons said. "One that really doesn't alter the basic fundamental requirements."
Knox County Elections Administrator Chris Davis said he didn't want to comment on potential legislation, but said in a text message "in-person early voting is a crucial piece of administering a successful election."
Original Story (2/6):
A state lawmaker from Knoxville is renewing an effort to eliminate early voting for most people in the state of Tennessee.
Rep. Elaine Davis (R-Knoxville) introduced House Bill 1099, which deletes portions of state law that establish and outline procedures for early voting. Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) sponsored the senate counterpart bill.
10News has reached out to Davis to learn why she filed the bill. House Democrats on Monday called the measure "anti-democratic," saying it will further reduce Tennessee's voter turnout.
"Tennessee currently ranks 47th in voter turnout. At a time when we should be doing all that we can to increase voter participation, it is disconcerting that extremist legislators are trying to make it even harder for working Tennesseans to vote," House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons said. "Over the past twelve years of one-party rule in this state, we have seen numerous laws enacted to build barriers to the voting booth. These anti-democratic laws have directly resulted in lower voter turnout and had a disparate impact on communities of color. It’s worth asking why extremists within the GOP want fewer working Tennesseans and young adults to vote.”
Two years ago, Sen. Bowling filed and withdrew a similar senate bill that sought to ban early voting in the state as well as require all elections to be conducted with watermarked paper ballots.
Under the Tennessee Early Voting Act of 1994, the state allows voters a period of 15 days to vote early in person before the election. This was done to encourage greater voter turnout by ensuring people with busy work schedules or other life circumstances had more flexibility to cast a ballot without being strictly limited to just Election Day.
As of 2023, 46 states in the U.S. allowed some form of early voting. U.S. lawmakers have also considered legislation that would require states to expand in-person early voting to ensure every state allows at least 15 days to vote early in federal elections.
In Knox County, the majority of both Republican and Democrat voters cast their ballots early in the Nov. 2022 General Election.
In the 2022 gubernatorial election -- nearly 69,000 of the more than 128,000 votes (54%) were cast early in the election. Of those 69,000 early votes -- more than 41,500 were cast for Republican Gov. Bill Lee. The percentage of early votes he received against his challengers was slightly more than his election-day voting results. Democratic challenger Jason Martin also saw a slightly better advantage in early voting turnout compared to election day.
However, some of the smaller district and local elections between just two candidates saw greater differences between early voting and election day turnout. One of those races was the District 18 election, which included the House bill's sponsor -- Rep. Elaine Davis.
In that race, both Davis and her Democratic opponent, Greg Kaplan, received more early votes than they did votes on election day. However, Kaplan's turnout fared better against Davis in the early voting period. In early voting, Davis had 53.7% of the vote against Kaplan's 46.3% In election day voting, Davis commanded a greater share -- 55.7% of the vote -- against Kaplan's 44.2%.
Absentee votes also favored Kaplan in the last election -- who received 59% of the 819 absentee votes.
Davis' bill includes a provision that would delete pieces of language from an existing state law that guides how absentee applications and ballots are conducted in nursing home settings. The bill would exclude homes for the aged or similar licensed institutions "providing relatively permanent domiciliary care" from the listed definition of places that receive assistance from the county election commission.
The proposed bill would also get rid of a Tennessee law that currently allows voters to choose someone else to fill out the majority of their request for an absentee ballot, minus the voter's signature.