Signs threaten to punish voters

When Hamilton County voters go to the polls for the Republican and Democratic primaries in March, they may spot a small warning sign with a yellow background and bold, black letters posted in a prominent location.

“It’s the Law!” it declares. “Please Read.”

After new legislation was signed by the governor in

May 2023, polling places in Tennessee must post a sign warning voters it’s a crime to vote in a political party’s primary without being a “bona fide member of or affiliated with” that political party.

The Hamilton County Election Commission will have one sign at every polling place and two per early voting site, Administrator Scott Allen said in an email.

State Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, co-sponsored the bill and said in a phone call the legislation simply informs people of a preexisting law. He compares it to posting the speed limit on the highway.

“If I put up a 70 mph speed limit sign just to make sure people were aware of it, it doesn’t mean I’m changing the 70 mph speed limit,” Pody said. “It’s already there. I’m just reminding people, and that’s all this did.”

Another co-sponsor of the bill — state Rep. Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro — did not respond to a series of emailed questions sent to him through a House Republican Caucus spokesperson.

Pody said he’s unsure if people were actively violating the state’s rules about voting in primaries, but he heard concern from constituents.

“It doesn’t hurt anything just to remind people,” he said.

The League of Women Voters in Tennessee and two Knox County residents sued the state in late 2023, arguing the legislation could confuse and intimidate voters. The sign’s language is based on a Tennessee law that has been in effect for more than 50 years but has never been enforced, the organization said in a news release. It may ultimately discourage people from going to the polls to vote in the state’s open primary elections, according to the group.

Tennessee is one of 16 states with open primary elections, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Voters can choose which party’s ballot to use, but that decision is private and does not register the voter with that party. That allows a voter to cast a ballot across party lines during a primary election.

It’s a process critics argue dilutes a political party’s ability to nominate candidates, according to the conference, but supporters say it gives voters maximum flexibility and maintains their privacy.

In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs say state law provides no definition of how a voter becomes a bona fide member of a party and the statute is unconstitutionally vague, delegating to parties and prosecutors the determination of

who has broken the law by voting in a primary.

“These statutory provisions leave plaintiffs and thousands of other Tennesseans unable to determine whether voting in a primary will subject them to prosecution and jail time,” the lawsuit states. “As a result, these provisions will deter a potentially enormous number of voters from exercising their fundamental right to vote.”

‘ENTITLED TO VOTE’

Victor Ashe, a former Knoxville mayor, Republican state legislator and ambassador to Poland under former President George W. Bush, is one of two voters suing the state.

He writes a weekly column for the Knoxville NewsSentinel, where he regularly criticizes former President Donald Trump and other Republicans, according to the lawsuit. That includes lawmakers and party officials who refused to certify the election results in 2020 and who have not condemned the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters upset over his loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Consequently, Ashe fears the people in control of today’s Tennessee Republican Party might not consider him a bona fide member and “could seek to prosecute him if he votes in the next primary election,” according to the lawsuit.

“Of all the crimes the DAs are fighting, I would think this would be low on their list as compared to rape, murder, incest, larceny — all the issues where there’s personal injuries and real victims,” Ashe said in a phone interview. “Who’s the victim in this case? The victim is a person who decided not to vote when they’re fully entitled to vote.”

The term “bona fide” is open to interpretation, Ashe said.

“If we say the speed limit is 50, that’s clear,” he said. “There’s no room for doubt. But if you say ‘bona fide,’ what does that mean? … It’s sort of like looking at a piece of art. Some people will like it, some don’t.”

In many Tennessee counties, Republicans tend to dominate local elections, and voters frequently decide key races in the primaries, Ashe noted. In Knox County, for example, Democrats don’t often run a candidate for positions like mayor, sheriff, register of deeds or Circuit Court clerk, Ashe said.

“If you want to vote, you have to vote in the Republican primary,” he said.

CHANGING MINDS

People have a right to change their mind, Ashe noted, adding a sizeable percentage of Tennessee voters are independents. They could identify as a Democrat one day, become unhappy with a policy decision by Biden and ultimately decide they’re a Republican, Ashe said.

This year, Ashe said, it’s likely many Republicans won’t vote for Trump in the fall.

“Does that mean they’re not a Republican, or they just don’t like Trump?” Ashe said.

In 1984 — the same year former President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, carried Tennessee with nearly 58% of the vote — voters elected former Vice President Al Gore, a Democrat, to the U.S. Senate with almost 61% of the ballots cast. Ashe was Gore’s opponent that year in the general election.

“People were voting for both a Republican for president and a Democrat for a Senate, which was their right,” he said. “I happen to know because I was a Republican candidate for Senate, and I didn’t get enough Reagan voters to vote for me.”

TEAM SPORT

Pody used a different analogy to illustrate his thoughts about crossover voting.

“If I’m playing in the Super Bowl, I think that only the (Kansas City Chiefs) should be able to choose who’s on the field, and the (San Francisco 49ers) should be able to decide who’s on their field,” he said. “It’s not up to the fans to make that decision. It’s up to the coach and up to the team to say, ‘Here’s who want on the field,’ and then you play.”

The same concept applies to party primaries, Pody said — it’s up to the Democratic Party to choose who it wants on the ballot and likewise for Republicans. Pody said he doesn’t want to disenfranchise people who don’t affiliate with either party.

“They’ve certainly got the right to vote for whoever they feel most comfortable in the general election,” Pody said.

Each of the parties determine their definition of “bona fide,” Pody said, similar to churches making decisions about membership.

“I don’t want a Baptist Church to tell the Church of Christ what their requirements are to be a member,” he said. “That’s up to an individual group, organization to make that decision. If someone wants a change, they work through that organization to make a change. If they can convince enough other people that their idea’s the right idea, then their change will come to fruition.”