Crucial Changes in Tennessee Voting Rights Restoration Laws Take Effect
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Last month, Tennessee lawmakers approved new bipartisan legislation to make it easier for people with previous felony convictions to vote in the state. Senate Bill 0336 and House Bill 067 eliminated the court costs requirement and opened the door for people who are compliant with child support payment orders for a year to restore their voting rights.
Campaign Legal Center’s Restore Your Vote program coordinated alongside advocates at the Tennessee-based Free Hearts to support the legislation and get it across the finish line. Free Hearts is an organization led by formerly incarcerated women who have restored their voting rights and are now working to expand the freedom to vote for thousands more in the state of Tennessee.
“The passage of this legislation reflects a commitment to a more inclusive democracy in Tennessee,” said Keeda Haynes, senior legal counsel at Free Hearts. “For generations, our state has restricted access to the ballot for directly impacted individuals in ways that narrowed participation and left too many voices unheard. By removing financial barriers that have long stood in the way of voting rights restoration, this law reinforces a core democratic principle, that our democracy works best when everyone is included.”
“This is what justice looks like: removing barriers that never should have existed in the first place and opening the door for hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans to reclaim their voice,” said Dawn Harrington, executive director of Free Hearts. “It’s a powerful example of what directly impacted-led organizing, coalition building and persistence over time can achieve, even in places where the path to change isn’t easy.”
“This process is still far from perfect, but removing financial barriers is a significant step forward,” said Gicola Lane, the senior community partnerships manager of Restore Your Vote at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. “I’ve seen how discouraging it can be for people to do everything right and still be denied their rights simply because they can’t afford legal debt. This change creates a more realistic path for people to have their voices heard."
“This law is a significant milestone, marking the first improvement to Tennessee’s voting rights restoration law in two decades,” said Blair Bowie, director of Restore Your Vote at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. “But Tennessee still has the highest rate of disenfranchisement in the country and lags significantly behind much of the country when it comes to voting rights restoration, as most states will restore a person’s voting rights once they’ve completed their prison sentence. Clearly, more must be done.”
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The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center advances democracy through law. We safeguard the freedom to vote, defend voters’ right to know who is spending money to influence elections, and work to ensure public trust in our elected officials.
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