Because of the talk across the nation of expanding mail-in voting and because of President Trump’s stance against Mail-In Voting’s potential for voter fraud, in an effort to “Protect the Vote,” the TFRW Executive Committee composed a Resolution in Opposition to Expanding Absentee Mail-In Voting in Tennessee. This Resolution was sent to Republican State Senators and Representatives in Tennessee’s General Assembly on May 29. Considerable positive feedback in support of this resolution was sent back to us. On June 2, Senator Becky Massey thanked us for our input on this issue and reported that expanding voting by mail was heard that day in the Senate State and Local Government Committee. It was defeated.

Despite our efforts, late on June 4, a Nashville judge, ruling on a case filed by the ACLU and a voters’ rights group, ordered that all 4.1 million registered voters in Tennessee can vote by mail, upon request, without a reason to qualify, because of the coronavirus. Secretary of State Tre’ Hargett and Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slattery oppose the ruling. Slattery said: “Election officials consulted with experts from the Tennessee Department of Health and county health departments to create a comprehensive COVID-19 election plan that conforms to the CDC’s guidance and makes Tennessee’s polling places safer than the general community.” The Attorney General appealed this ruling. Further action is pending.

Tennessee Federation of Republican Women
Resolution in Opposition to Expanding Mail-In Voting in Tennessee

WHEREAS, the state of Tennessee has an exemplary elected Secretary of State, one of whose duties includes the administration of elections and the overseeing of Absentee Mail-In Voting;

WHEREAS, the state of Tennessee has an ideal Request Form Process for Absentee Mail-In Ballots where voters must qualify for a reason to receive an Absentee Mail-In Ballot to include: being sixty (60) years of age or older; being out of town during Early Voting and on Election Day; being hospitalized, ill, or physically disabled; being a caretaker of a person who is hospitalized, ill, or physically disabled; being in the military, or having the voter’s licensed physician file a statement with the county election commission stating that in the physician’s judgment the voter is medically unable to vote in person;

WHEREAS, this comprehensive process allows a registered voter in Tennessee fourteen (14) reasons to qualify for requesting an Absentee Mail-In Ballot;

WHEREAS, many other states’ Secretaries of State have sent or plan to send “no excuse” Absentee Mail-in Ballots to all registered voters in their states without having a qualifying reason to receive the Absentee Mail-In Ballot;

WHEREAS, this practice of sending Absentee Mail-In Ballots to all registered voters causes concern for dishonesty and voter fraud in mail-in elections;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Tennessee Federation of Republican Women opposes expanding Absentee Mail-In Ballots.

Adopted this First day of June 2020, by the Tennessee Federation of Republican Women.

Barbara Trautman, 2020-2021 TFRW President