Give us mail-in ballots for November

To Sen. Alexander:

Thank you for your reply to my concerns about voting access in Tennessee.

I am aware of the information you shared in your May 1 reply about Tennessee’s absentee ballot and that each state manages its own voting procedures.

To date, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Secretary of State Tre Hargett have not indicated any intention to expand access to absentee (mail-in) ballots to all Tennessee voters, not even during this health crisis. Due to COVID-19, a significant number of poll workers won’t work, thus cutting short the number of polling locations. Tennesseans who don’t meet the current restrictive absentee ballot requirements may choose to not vote in person, in deference to their health. As has been noted, citizens shouldn’t have to choose between their right to vote and their health.

Please reconsider thinking that a federally directed universal ballot, especially for federal elections, is overreach, as noted in your reply:

“State governments are responsible for managing how their elections are run, not bureaucrats in Washington D.C.”

I urge you and your Senate colleagues to establish a postage-paid, mail-in ballot for our 2020 nationwide election. This work has already begun with The National Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act (NDEBA). As you noted in your reply, “The right to vote is at the heart of what it means to be an American.”

Therese P. Tuley