Voting Rights Restoration Efforts in Tennessee
Current felony disenfranchisement laws
Tennessee has perhaps the most irrational and confusing felony disenfranchisement laws in the nation. People who were convicted before July 1, 1986, must petition a court for restoration of voting rights, and various prosecutors are given an opportunity to object. People convicted after June 30, 1996, are subject to the same rules, except that those convicted of murder, rape, treason, or voter fraud are permanently disenfranchised. These exceptions pertain also to people convicted between July 1, 1986 and July 1, 1996, but others convicted during that period may petition for administrative restoration of rights, without a potentially adversarial court hearing.
Legislative advocacy
The Brennan Center worked with state advocates and the ACLU in 2005 to draft a bill that would streamline and standardize these complex restoration procedures. That bill passed in the state senate but failed by eleven votes in the house.
In 2006, the Tennessee Legislature passed an amended version of the bill. The new law represents a step forward, as it standardizes the restoration process and eliminates any adversarial proceeding. Now, any person convicted of an infamous crime, except some of those convicted of murder, treason, rape, voter fraud, and sexual offenses, receives a certificate of discharge upon completion of their maximum prison sentence or their probation or parole terms. This certificate verifies that the individual is qualified to register and vote.
However, the new legislation also requires people to pay all restitution and be current in child support payments before becoming eligible to register and vote. We will be working with state advocates to fix some of these more problematic provisions and to further streamline the restoration process in the upcoming legislative session.