Tennessee to count provisional ballots by people convicted of felonies who had rights in limbo

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee will count the provisional ballots cast by six people convicted of felonies who had their voting rights recently restored under judges' rulings, but had been placed in limbo after state officials filed a flurry of legal motions arguing that they had to get their gun rights back in order to vote again. According to letters sent to local election commissions earlier this month, Election Coordinator Mark Goins told officials to count the provisional ballots.

“Although other courts have addressed requests for restoration of rights differently and I disagree with the court's order, in this specific case given the timing and the language in this specific order, we must follow the court order, even though it is not final,” Goins wrote in one letter on Nov. 15. In January, Tennessee's Secretary of State office shocked voting rights advocates when it announced that people convicted of a felony must get their gun rights and other “citizenship rights” restored before they can become eligible to cast a ballot again.

While explaining their decision, the election office pointed to a 2023 state Supreme Court ruling that said all people convicted of felonies applying for reinstated voting rights first get their “full citizenship rights” restored by a judge or show they were pardoned by a governor. Gun rights were among those required, the Secretary of State's office determined. Critics have argued the state's legal interpretation was way off-ba.