The League of Women Voters of Tennessee along with former U.S. Ambassador to Poland and former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe and Knoxville voter Phil Lawson have filed a federal lawsuit challenging state laws that requires election officials to place a sign at every polling place warning voters in bolded language that to vote in a party’s primary, they must be a “bona fide member of or affiliated with” or “declare allegiance” to that party or else face criminal prosecution.
In a press release, the League of Women Voters said, “Tennessee currently has partially open primaries, meaning voters can vote for whatever party ballot they choose. In fact, there is no process to register with a political party in Tennessee.”
The lawsuit states “these laws go far beyond deterring crossover voting and are unconstitutional because they threaten voters, including primarily those who have no intent to crossover vote, with felony convictions based on nebulous standards that have no definition under state law and instead are defined by private political parties.”