FILE - A “vote here” sign is seen at the Brainerd Youth and Family Development Center, Aug. 1, 2020, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Tennessee’s top election office sent letters to more than 14,000 registered voters asking them to prove their citizenship, a move that alarmed voting rights advocates as possible intimidation. NASHVILLE, Tenn. —
“Accurate voter rolls are a vital component to ensuring election integrity, and Tennessee law makes it clear that only eligible voters are allowed to participate in Tennessee elections,” Kufner said.A shooter who entered a Tennessee office building and caused a lockdown has died, police sayThe letter does not, however, reveal what would happen to those who do not update their records — including whether people who fail to respond will be purged from the voter rolls.
“The fact legal citizens of the United States and residents of Tennessee are being accused of not being eligible to vote is an affront to democracy,” said state Rep. Jason Powell, a Democrat from Nashville, in a statement. “These fine Tennesseans are being burdened with re-proving their own voter eligibility and threatened with imprisonment in a scare tactic reminiscent of Jim Crow laws.”