April, 15 2019, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Reynolds Graves, Lawyers’ Committee, RGraves@LawyersCommittee.org, 202-662-8375
Contact: Kristen Muthig, Fair Elections Center kmuthig@fairelectionscenter.org, (202) 331-0114
Civil and Voting Rights Organizations Oppose Tennessee's Proposed Restrictions to Voter Registration Drives
Proposed new rules are confusing and vague and would deter groups from helping others register to vote through harsh criminal and civil penalties
WASHINGTON
A collective of national civil and voting rights organizations sent a letter to the Tennessee General Assembly asking them to reject bill SB971/HB1079 that would create burdensome requirements, threatening civil and criminal penalties for individuals and groups conducting voter registration drives. The bill, scheduled for a vote in the House Monday, will intimidate groups from conducting community-based drives to avoid the risk of being subject to the bill's severe penalties.
In a state that struggles with voter registration and turnout, leaders should look for ways to encourage activities like voter registration drives, but these new restrictions will have the exact opposite effect.
The letter outlines several issues that make this bill a threat to efforts to make democracy more accessible to all Americans. The language used in the bill is vague and makes it unclear who must follow the requirements--for example, it heavily penalizes voter registration drives for handing in registration forms "deemed deficient" without explaining clearly who is subject to the rule and what would considered a "deficient" form, and it adds poorly-defined criminal penalties for honest mistakes. Tennessee's criminal laws already protect voters and prohibit voter registration fraud, making these vague, onerous new restrictions unnecessary.
The bill also requires state-sponsored training without ensuring groups can actually participate, another provision with the threat of criminal prosecution. As written, this bill has no requirement that training be made available on any schedule or timeframe, or that it be made available on-demand online or otherwise.
In the letter, the organizations encouraged policymakers to "instead focus on modernizing Tennessee's registration and election administration to promote participation and bring more eligible citizens into our democracy."
The letter sent to the Tennessee General Assembly can be found here. Signers include:
- ACLU
- American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
- Arab American Institute
- Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)
- Campaign Legal Center
- Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
- Disability Rights Tennessee
- Fair Elections Center
- Franciscan Action Network
- Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- League of Women Voters of the United States
- National Disability Rights Network
- NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- Tennessee State Conference NAACP
- Transformative Justice Coalition
- UFCW Minority Coalition
The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity - work that continues to be vital today.
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CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said following the passage of the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025 (H.R. 5009) that "it should alarm every American taxpayer that we are nearing a trillion-dollar annual budget for an agency rampant with waste, fraud, and abuse."
Jayapal, who was one of 140 lawmakers to oppose the package, emphasized that the Pentagon has failed seven consecutive annual audits.
Despite being the only federal agency to never have passed a federal audit, said Jayapal, the Department of Defense "continues to receive huge boosts to funding every year. Our constituents deserve better."
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Jayapal noted that the funding package includes substantive pay raises for service members and new investments in housing, healthcare, childcare, and other support for their families.
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The September 29 attack "destroyed the house of the Syrian al-Shaar family, killing all nine members of the family who were sleeping inside," the report states.
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Survivor Jinane Hijazi told Amnesty: "I've lost everything; my entire family, my parents, my siblings, my daughter. I wish I had died that day too."
As the report notes:
A fragment of the munition found at the site of the attack was analyzed by an Amnesty International weapons expert and based upon its size, shape, and the scalloped edges of the heavy metal casing, identified as most likely a MK-80 series aerial bomb, which would mean it was at least a 500-pound bomb. The United States is the primary supplier of these types of munitions to Israel.
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Guevara Rosas said: "These attacks must be investigated as war crimes. The Lebanese government must urgently call for a special session at the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism into the alleged violations and crimes committed by all parties in this conflict. It must also grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over Rome Statute crimes committed on Lebanese territory."
"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful airstrikes in Gaza and past wars in Lebanon taking a devastating toll on civilians."
Last month, the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Israel's 433-day Gaza onslaught, which has left more than 162,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing in the embattled enclave.
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