Tennessee elections chief accused of intimidation for telling 14,375 voters to prove citizenship
Tennessee elections chief accused of intimidation for telling 14,375 voters to prove citizenship
Republican secretary of state sends vaguely worded letter to voters weeks before primary
Republican secretary of state sends vaguely worded letter to voters weeks before primary
Tennessee’s top election official asked more than 14,000 registered voters to prove their citizenship in a vaguely worded letter last month in what voting and immigrant groups say is an attempt to intimidate voters.
The office of the Tennessee secretary of state, Tre Hargett, a Republican, sent the letter to 14,375 voters on 13 June, weeks before early voting was to begin for the state’s August primary. “Our office has received information that appears to indicate that your voter information matches with an individual who may not have been a United States citizen at the time of obtaining a Tennessee license or ID card,” the letter says.
It goes on to remind the recipient that illegal voting is a felony in Tennessee punishable with up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. It requests that any person who received the letter who is a citizen provide proof, such as a US passport, birth certificate, naturalization papers or other document.
The letter offers no information about what happens if someone does not reply. It also offers no information on how their names were flagged for review. Doug Kufner, a spokesman for Hargett, did not return requests for comment.
They’re not doing this because they’re confident they’re going to win
It's TN. They'll win every seat except Nashville, Memphis, and that one West TN area I always forget the name of but they always vote Democrat. The first KKK was founded here, and the second and third were founded a stones throw away. I should know, I've been to Stone Mountain and witnessed Even-More-Racist-Mount-Rushmore.
That mentality has never really left rural Tennessee. Hell, even suburban Tennessee is wildly racist. My parents home town has outright stated they'll never allow public transportation because it'd bring in more Black and Mexican people to their 85% white city.
Also last time I heard this from the city's attorney, he didn't say "Black" or "Mexican". Instead it was an outright slur.
Again, this is from the city's attorney. And he's probably the least racist high level official.
They live 20 minutes from Nashville.
This push to prove citizenship is nothing but reviving Jim Crow laws for today. They will make it as difficult as possible so that poor voters of color will not be able to vote. Republicans are evil and they are lying to you about their true intentions.
How did they determine who got one of these letters? Name? Location?
Party affiliation?
Latino last names I am betting. That is what that fucker Kris Kobach did
This shit sickens me. It's an attempt to deprive people of their constitutional right to vote while doing an end-run around due-process. They don't have to prove anything, just say there's suspicion and boom, you're off the registry. And they intentionally do it this close to an election in the hopes that it will help swing the results in their favor. It's blatantly obvious and I don't understand how any court lets them get away with it.
These people are off the registry?
If they don't jump through whatever hoops they are supposed to to prove they are citizens, then yes, they will be removed from the voter registry. I don't know if you've ever had to prove you are a legal citizen before, but it isn't super easy. It takes time and money to get the proper documents.
Honest question, can you vote without ID in the US? To me, asking for ID (or any sort of proof of citizenship and age) seems completely normal, since those are the two requirements for being eligible for voting, citizenship and being over 18 years old.
That is a state by state question. The problem people have with it, is that it frequently is done in bad faith. Here's a few examples. Alabama has been known to shut down the places where you can get proper identification in certain areas, making it so that you have to travel long distances to get the id. Something poor people have a harder time doing. North Carolina has been proven in court to do preliminary research about what kind of ID black people tend not to have, before passing a law requiring that specific ID. Texas required IDs have your exact name on it. That doesn't sound like a much of an issue, until you realize they did it months before the election, and their system for updating it takes longer. Any one who had changed their name, such as women who had taken their husband's name, would not have been allowed to vote had it not been delayed by the courts.
And nothing will happen to him.
I hope they mailed back a response to his house that told him to go fuck himself with a crude stick figure drawing that depicts the act.