Democracy

DID YOU KNOW:

Most Americans agree that a photo ID requirement protects against in-person voter fraud.

The problem is when the ID required to vote is hard for some people to get. That's the case in Tennessee, especially for people who are poor, live in a rural area, have an hourly or inflexible job, are a primary caregiver, and/or don’t have reliable transportation.

Tennessee requires a photo ID issued by the state. Of Tennessee’s 95 counties, only 41 have a full-service DMV that can issue a driver’s license or state ID required to vote. DMVs have limited hours and generally aren't on public transportation routes. Passports, military IDs, and gun permits are also accepted for voting purposes. College IDs—even those issued by state colleges and universities—are not. 

Do you think the state should have the responsibilty to provide every voter with an acceptable ID?

DID YOU KNOW:

Gerrymandering is the practice of drawing voting districts to favor one political party. Tennessee is heavily gerrymandered.

States redraw their district maps every 10 years based on the US Census. States like Tennessee, where the legislature draws the map, are almost always gerrymandered to favor the party in power.

Gerrymandering doesn’t affect the outcome of statewide races, like governor or president. It does affect the outcome of legislative races. Those races determine who represents us in the Tennessee General Assembly, which makes state laws, and in the US Congress, which makes federal laws. In the 2020 presidential election, the Republican candidate (Trump) won about 60% of the vote in Tennessee. The Democratic candidate (Biden) won about 40%. However, Democrats hold only one of Tennessee's nine congressional seats (11%). That's a result of gerrymandering.

The Supreme Court has declined to stop states from gerrymandering unless it’s done for racial reasons, but many states have eliminated gerrymandering on their own, so every voter has a fair opportunity to choose their representatives.

Do you think it's fair when legislators are allowed to draw district maps to keep themselves in power?

DID YOU KNOW:

Most Tennesseans who commit a felony lose their right to vote. Most never regain that right, even after they’ve served their time.

In most states, people in prison can’t vote. But many states restore a person’s voting rights automatically once they’ve completed their prison sentence, probation, and/or parole. In some states, like Tennessee, people with a prior felony conviction have to apply to get their voting rights back.

For years, Tennessee’s restoration process has been so confusing and expensive that most people don’t even try. More than 470,000 Tennesseans, including one out of five black Tennesseans, can’t vote for this reason. Recently voting-rights groups began helping people through the complex process one by one. But in July 2023, the state elections office made the process even harder so now it's necessary to hire a lawyer. 

Do you think it's fair for someone who's committed a crime and served their sentence to lose their right to vote forever, even when they are back in the public as free citizens and taxpayers?

DID YOU KNOW:

Tennessee voters broadly agree on several important issues, including the need for commonsense gun laws and reasonable abortion access. Who doesn’t agree? The lobbyists and donors who influence Tennessee lawmakers.

Both the Tennessee Right to Life (which wrote Tennessee's abortion ban) and the American Firearms Association (which opposes any new gun-safety laws) threatened political retaliation against conservative lawmakers who broke ranks to vote in accordance with most Tennesseans’ wishes.

Tennessee’s laws are out of step with what most Tennesseans want because most Tennessee lawmakers answer to lobbyists and major donors, not their constituents. In a nonvoting state, lawmakers know they won't be held accountable at the voting booth.

Do you think representatives who answer to lobbyists and wealthy donors first are really representing their constituents?

DID YOU KNOW:

Tennessee was ranked the least democratic (small D) state by University of Washington political science professor Jacob Grumbach.

Dr. Grumbach gave each state a numeric “democracy” score based on 51 indicators—like how gerrymandered the state is, how hard it is to vote there, and how responsive its government is to its citizens.

Tennessee came in last. He found that Tennessee is one of five states (including Alabama, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin) that experienced significant “democratic backsliding” between 2000 and 2018. The backsliding is still happening.

At what point does Tennessee stop being a functional democracy?