This came out a while ago. It’s been the law for a long time but the recent addendum said it had to be clearly posted at voting sites now.
There are no tests to ensure someone is one party or another so it’s a pretty empty and useless law.
Don’t you mean we’ve been getting fucked by the democrats? The democrats are the ones who are fucking us,wake up and smell the roses n quit drinking the liberal koolaid,it fogs your brain.
Wait, wait, wait.
I just came from IIRC a r/ConservativeTerrorism post and allegedly there’s an Iranian national assassin after Trump and someone commented he’d need an Elephant gun, since Rs are elephants, but mainly due to his being rotund. So I said, “I am thinking of what the McGill girl said.”
*Kablooie! Nothing left.”
The amount of voters in here who don’t understand what this refers to or how it applies is wild.
Edit: this was meant to be its own comment, not directed toward this chain, my bad.
The amount of voters that get up in arms when the poll worker asks which party’s ballot they want is absurd… like you cannot ask me what party I’m for…
The purpose is because you are voting in a PARTY primary.
The primaries are technically ran by the primary. Each party has different rules for how they operate.
There’s an “or” there which just makes it even more poorly written. Just declare your allegiance for whatever party you want to vote for then change it the next time or don’t by just declaring allegiance again. So even if you couldn’t prove you’re bona fide, you can just declare allegiance.
Bona Fide is a pretty well-established legal term of art. I know not everyone here has legal training, but that term is not vague or in need of a statutory definition. If you google “Bona Fide,” you'll find it used and understood frequently in statutes and legal doctrines.
It's not that the term has undefined, meaning it's that there isn't a definitive test for its meaning in this case. Affidavit of the suspect is the only way to determine bonifieds
The phrase bona fide is used quite a bit, **but** it's meaning isn't uniform.
For example, knowing what qualifies as a bona fide group or association of employers under ERISA is totally useless here.
---
It's an unconstitutional law because it is vague.
I had a teacher who would register as the opposite party of what he believed. Vote for the weakest candidate of that Party and vote for the party he wasn't registered as but believed during the general.
So yeah, there are ways around laws like that.
It’s a 1972 law requiring party affiliation to vote in a party’s primary. The changes in 2023 were to require the sign to be posted. I don’t believe anyone has ever been prosecuted under the statute.
Former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe filed a constitutional challenge to the new law that requires posting the 8x11 sign at polling stations. That claim was dismissed as there was no way to show his voting rights were harmed not by the original “bona fide party member” law, but just by posting a sign informing people of it.
While I agree that the law is likely a complete waste of time, there is a growing faction of interest in both parties sabotaging the primaries of the other. During the last election cycle, opposing parties purchased ads for the candidate least likely to win the general who was most appealing to the base.
This really helped Dems hold off the "Red Wave" Republicans predicted. They helped a bunch of lunatics win Republican primaries only to easily be taken down in the General.
Is there no such thing as an Independent voter in TN? What if you “declare allegiance” to a party but do not intend to vote straight party line in the general election?
We don’t register by party affiliation in TN because we have open primaries. This law is silly, but the commentary on this thread is mind-blowing. We need more robust civics education in this country.
I'm from TN but lived in KY for a few years. If you register as independent there, you don't get to vote in shit until the general election because you're barred from primaries. They're party-locked.
To make things even more messed up, if you're registered as Democrat, you basically don't get a vote at all because everyone runs as Republicans (at least in Eastern Kentucky) and they usually run unopposed in the general. Republicans voters basically choose everything.
My locals have zero democrats running. ZERO. And yet I'm the asshole for not voting when I have no options. Rural Tennessee is no where near a democracy.
And have my house vandalized and death threats every other day? No thanks. My best friends mom is the treasurer of the Democratic Party in a rural TN county and they had a bomb threat at the place they meet last year, and she regularly gets death threats in the mail.
You’re not an independent if you vote in a party’s primary. It’s impossible. You must tell them which primary you want to vote. That doesn’t mean you can’t vote differently in November.
What people forget is, this is paid for partly by each party. It is to see who the majority of voting members want to represent them in the general election.
What if I want to vote for one party’s candidate for President but the property assessor I want to vote for is the opposite party? Can I be an independent then?
I understand how the process works. But you said I can’t be an Independent if I vote in a primary. Last year I voted in the primary of the party I least support because the person I most strongly supported in a local election was on the opposite ticket with no opposition from my party. Does that mean I committed a crime?
Not for primaries. The point of a primary election is for people from the party to decide who they want to run as the candidate for their party, so it would be pointless to let non party members vote in that.
You can absolutely vote on the Republican ticket, kiddos. This is a “law” with no enforcement, since we don’t register as party affiliates here in TN.
Go on with your bad selves and smash that Haley button if you like.
EDIT: thanks for the Redditcares, chuds! Always nice to know I triggered y’all.
I begrudgingly had to vote republican because I wanted to vote for property assessor (I own a house and the challenger would have significantly affected me). Most folks running local here are republican. But I totally wrote in T Swift lol. Fuck yous guys. And fuck Bill Lee for intimidating voters and then coming out today to endorse Donald Trump. I can’t wait for this dick to be out of office.
I does matter for local elections in some places.
For example, where I live there's a contested school board election where there's no democratic or independent candidate but two Republican candidates. One of them is insane and one isn't, but the whole election is basically being decided in the primary.
It could just as easily be Sumner. They had some psychos running for school board too. Thankfully they all lost, but it’s scary to think a few of them got close to winning.
Ah yes one that has vaguely done book bans but still sorta tried to give outs with parental permission slips.
The other with a fucking cross and flag on their campaign signs.
This is why it’s important to vote in primaries.
That's weird. I voted in the 2020 presidential election, in the 2022 midterms, and nowhere in my registration to vote did it ask for my party affiliation. Such a stupid law. Why can't you just vote for who you want to vote for?
Edit: I'm stupid😂
In the primary elections, they will ask if you want the Republican or Democrat ballot. As an example for this election... if you choose the Republican ballot, you will only be voting on their potential candidates (i.e. for president: Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, etc.); if you choose Democrat, you vote for their potential candidates. You will be asked by the election worker that verifies your ID.
The primaries are for any partisan race, not just President. Haley and Trump are running as Republicans for President, but there were other partisan primaries in some locations yesterday too.
This is a real subtle distinction. We don't register by party, but you're not supposed to vote in another partys primary. The signs are weird, and they're trying to discourage people who aren't diehard Republicans from voting in the Republican primary. That's what this is about.
It's more or less been the law for decades, but only recently have Republicans started worrying about it.
You can, but each party is hosting their own nominating “event” (we vote, some states caucus) so they will know which candidate to put on the general election ballot. We do not register by party in TN and we have open primaries, so you can have a say in either party’s primary now, then have a say about all of it in November.
I want to see somebody test this horse shit in court. The idea that you can gate voting based on intent is completely undemocratic.
I don't understand why they didn't just switch to a closed primary. Having an open primary with this language is extremely bizarre.
They don't want Democratic voters to vote Republican in the primary because they can vote for the candidate most likely to lose to the Democratic candidate in the general
I volunteered to be a poll worker for the first time yesterday in TN. They had it posted on the doors but in TN you don't have to be a member of a party to vote in the primary. We were instructed that when a voter came in we asked which primary they wanted to vote in, not which party they were a member of.....
On the whole I found it to be a very good experience. Good people that were very serious about the entire process. I'm looking forward to volunteering in the fall.
Why would TN not simply change to the way other states do this where you register with a party? That said, I saw someone else mention what if you view yourself as an independent? Can’t you vote the way you are feeling that day? And hey, maybe I change how I plan to vote before the actual election. We all change our minds!
I understand the very real reason they don’t want you to do it. It could be easy for one party to attempt to sabotage the other party’s options. But this unenforceable law is not the way.
I'm a TN independent who thinks the current batch of GOP are outright insane. Voting in the Republican primary for "lease terrible choice" is the only way I have any small influence on state elections as my recent general election Democrat votes have no chance at winning. I'm happy to abide by this toothless rule for a day at a time :)
All I can hear is Holly Hunter’s voice…
“Vernon here’s gotta job. Vernon’s got prospects. He’s bona fide. What are you?!”
Better make sure y’all are bona fide.
I noticed it while voting for mayor and googled it leading up to the primaries. Someone has tried to have the law changed before, but the judge in the case basically said it hasn’t been enforced in 50 years so it’s staying.
https://apnews.com/article/ashe-poland-ambassador-tennessee-voting-republican-primary-de7b0f143ec7f3f4c99008c9dfa6dc44
Ah, my mistake. They tried to sue over it and got denied because the suit does “not adequately explain why a law that has been on the books for over 50 years is likely to suddenly confuse or intimidate voters”
How would you even enforce that in an open primary? Maybe I've grown disillusioned with the party I've always voted for and want to try something else? How would the state determine you're actually "involved" in the party you're voting for? Isn't this what closed primaries are for?
Pretty stupid law, flat out.
Voting is about choosing and anything that gets in the way of that freedom (which is an illusion these days anyway) just undermines the entire point of voting.
Primaries are for party members. Meaning Republicans vote for people that would best represent THEIR party in the election and democrats vote for people who would best represent THEIR party in the election. Trust me when I say that if people could vote in any primary, Trump WOULD NOT be the front runner in the Republican Party right now. In summary, THIS IS NOT VOTER INTIMIDATION AT ALL. THIS IS THE LAW.
Everyone who votes in a primary is criminal in violation of the law since none of you are registered members of the party.
You’re criminal scum and deserve disenfranchisement /s
They can't arrest you, but a party poll watcher can challenge you. If you lose the challenge, you can't vote in that party's primary. I'm not defending it. It's stupid. But it's the law.
lol good luck. Since I moved to Nashville from Philly I always vote republican in primaries. Honestly open elections is something I wish PA would adopt. I generally trust my fellow Nashvillians to select a rational candidate to represent the democrats. It sucks on a local level that I can’t help choose and while the nominee might not be my first choice, I’m generally not that upset about the choice. On the other hand I do not trust republicans to make the rational choice. So if me doing the little I can to preserve our democracy then label me a traitor.
In other states I voted in I only had the ability to vote for people in my chosen party. The machine did not even give me an option. Is it not like that here in TN?
When you go to vote they will ask if you want the Republican Party or Democratic Party ballot. When you go to the machine they select the one you chose and those are the options that are displayed by the machine.
So if
you're not a bona fide member of either party, you must 'declare intent' toaffiliate,
And then..what?
Would it be fun to ask the poll worker to witness your declaration of intent to affiliate?
If you have nothing to hide just show your ID and voter registration card, tell the poll workers if you are voting in the Democrat or Republican primary and go vote. Nothing complicated about that.
It's a vague stupid law with no way to prove anything or enforce anything. It's an empty law that's meant to scare people and force to vote along party lines. You don't have to talk to anyone about who you voted for or what party you're with. If anyone asks you there's nothing that stops you from lying. If you live in Tennessee or other places that post this type of scare tactic don't be afraid. There's nothing anyone can do to you
I was just having my own little issue with this yesterday, but for a different reason. Here on Wilson County there is an open seat on the Lebanon Special School District School Board, but because I requested the Democratic ballot, I wasn't offered the two options I've been seeing campaigning around the city because they're Republican Party candidates. This seems short-sighted because they're making the assumption that people who vote D tally their ballot based solely on that fact
This law shouldn't exist. You should always vote for the person that better suits the the needs of the country. Guessing if you don't like your campsite you should just not vote?
Yes, it is. The wording is misleading, at best. TN Code 2-7-115(b) is an affirmative right for a registered voter to declare a party affiliation and vote in the relevant primary. It does not carry a duty to vote for the candidate of that party in the general election.
Section 2-19-102 does not appear to be relevant at all and section 2-19-107 makes it a class d felony to attempt to register if not eligible to vote or to vote more then once in the same election or to participate in more then one party's primary.
This appears to be an attempt to dissuade people from so-called "strategic primary" voting, where they vote in the opposing party's primary to cast a vote for the most beatable candidate. This practice is not, in fact, illegal under the the cited TN codes.
Why should you get to vote in a primary for a party you don't belong to? This isn't voter intimidation. This is an attempt at stopping Voter Manipulation.
Essentially, a law with no teeth. Since registering to vote does not require you to specify a party affiliation, there’s no path to properly arresting you.
That’s wack. I used to live in a smaller, red-leaning town, and if I really wanted any say in school board members, sheriffs, even Secretary of State, I’d have to vote in the GOP primaries. Often they’d run unopposed come November, so the primary *was* the election.
I was wondering if maybe this was being posted at this polling place due to a good chick of registered Democrats voting undecided instead of Joe Brandon.
By the way, Kentucky, a place not known for smarts, requires that you register with one party or the other well before the election. When you show up, they give you the ballot based on your registration. You can change any time, but if you change in say 2024, then you can't vote in any 2024 primaries. You'd have to wait 'til next year.
This came out a while ago. It’s been the law for a long time but the recent addendum said it had to be clearly posted at voting sites now. There are no tests to ensure someone is one party or another so it’s a pretty empty and useless law.
Is the law written that shitty? Does it define what makes a person "bona fide"?
It's whatever party you prefer to bone you.
Well, we've all been getting fucked by republicans for years so....
Don’t you mean we’ve been getting fucked by the democrats? The democrats are the ones who are fucking us,wake up and smell the roses n quit drinking the liberal koolaid,it fogs your brain.
Bull
I'm the damn paterfamilias!
But you ain’t bona fide!
He was run over by a train!
Just a big grease spot on the L&N
I’ve said my peace and counted to three.
D@mm!t! I wasn't run over by no train!
I don’t want Fop, goddamnit! I’m a Dapper Dan Man!
We thought you was a toad
well ill only be 82🙂
Do not seek the treasure!
It's a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!
Wait, wait, wait. I just came from IIRC a r/ConservativeTerrorism post and allegedly there’s an Iranian national assassin after Trump and someone commented he’d need an Elephant gun, since Rs are elephants, but mainly due to his being rotund. So I said, “I am thinking of what the McGill girl said.” *Kablooie! Nothing left.”
Just a grease spot on the L & N
Nope lol. It’s completely vague
The amount of voters in here who don’t understand what this refers to or how it applies is wild. Edit: this was meant to be its own comment, not directed toward this chain, my bad.
The amount of voters that get up in arms when the poll worker asks which party’s ballot they want is absurd… like you cannot ask me what party I’m for…
I just loathe the fact that I can't be independent.
I mean, you can? You just can’t vote in multiple parties’ primaries.
The purpose is because you are voting in a PARTY primary. The primaries are technically ran by the primary. Each party has different rules for how they operate.
You've done so fuckin much to fix that congrats. The amount of posters who says stupid shit is wild!
I must have fat fingered this. It was meant to be its own comment not in reply to u/skingradGlarthir or this comment thread at all.
Ask George Clooney hes bonified
Receipt from the purchase of a $25 red hat, $45 teddy bear, or $400 sneakers made in China.
There’s an “or” there which just makes it even more poorly written. Just declare your allegiance for whatever party you want to vote for then change it the next time or don’t by just declaring allegiance again. So even if you couldn’t prove you’re bona fide, you can just declare allegiance.
Bona Fide is a pretty well-established legal term of art. I know not everyone here has legal training, but that term is not vague or in need of a statutory definition. If you google “Bona Fide,” you'll find it used and understood frequently in statutes and legal doctrines.
Like in Oh Brother Where Art Tho?
*Thou
Thot*?
It's not that the term has undefined, meaning it's that there isn't a definitive test for its meaning in this case. Affidavit of the suspect is the only way to determine bonifieds
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The phrase bona fide is used quite a bit, **but** it's meaning isn't uniform. For example, knowing what qualifies as a bona fide group or association of employers under ERISA is totally useless here. --- It's an unconstitutional law because it is vague.
It doesn't define bona fide, which is one reason it's so stupid.
Another empty useless law.
But if it makes you think twice then unfortunately it’s doing its job.
That’s exactly the problem.
Yeah, those have been up for at least a year.
I had a teacher who would register as the opposite party of what he believed. Vote for the weakest candidate of that Party and vote for the party he wasn't registered as but believed during the general. So yeah, there are ways around laws like that.
It’s a 1972 law requiring party affiliation to vote in a party’s primary. The changes in 2023 were to require the sign to be posted. I don’t believe anyone has ever been prosecuted under the statute. Former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe filed a constitutional challenge to the new law that requires posting the 8x11 sign at polling stations. That claim was dismissed as there was no way to show his voting rights were harmed not by the original “bona fide party member” law, but just by posting a sign informing people of it.
While I agree that the law is likely a complete waste of time, there is a growing faction of interest in both parties sabotaging the primaries of the other. During the last election cycle, opposing parties purchased ads for the candidate least likely to win the general who was most appealing to the base. This really helped Dems hold off the "Red Wave" Republicans predicted. They helped a bunch of lunatics win Republican primaries only to easily be taken down in the General.
Trump endorsed enough primary winners and general losers on his own.
Yeah he definitely screwed some candidates both by endorsing and not endorsing
Is there no such thing as an Independent voter in TN? What if you “declare allegiance” to a party but do not intend to vote straight party line in the general election?
We don’t register by party affiliation in TN because we have open primaries. This law is silly, but the commentary on this thread is mind-blowing. We need more robust civics education in this country.
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You are exactly right and I hate it so much.
That's why only uneducated people vote for Republicans. They don't know any better.
I'm from TN but lived in KY for a few years. If you register as independent there, you don't get to vote in shit until the general election because you're barred from primaries. They're party-locked. To make things even more messed up, if you're registered as Democrat, you basically don't get a vote at all because everyone runs as Republicans (at least in Eastern Kentucky) and they usually run unopposed in the general. Republicans voters basically choose everything.
My locals have zero democrats running. ZERO. And yet I'm the asshole for not voting when I have no options. Rural Tennessee is no where near a democracy.
You need to run as a Democratic candidate
And have my house vandalized and death threats every other day? No thanks. My best friends mom is the treasurer of the Democratic Party in a rural TN county and they had a bomb threat at the place they meet last year, and she regularly gets death threats in the mail.
You’re not an independent if you vote in a party’s primary. It’s impossible. You must tell them which primary you want to vote. That doesn’t mean you can’t vote differently in November. What people forget is, this is paid for partly by each party. It is to see who the majority of voting members want to represent them in the general election.
What if I want to vote for one party’s candidate for President but the property assessor I want to vote for is the opposite party? Can I be an independent then?
You vote in the Party’s primary. Either Republican or Democrat. “Or” being the keyword. They will only give you one ballot.
I understand how the process works. But you said I can’t be an Independent if I vote in a primary. Last year I voted in the primary of the party I least support because the person I most strongly supported in a local election was on the opposite ticket with no opposition from my party. Does that mean I committed a crime?
Let’s try this. If you vote in a primary, you vote as a member of a party. How you vote in any other election is irrelevant.
Not for primaries. The point of a primary election is for people from the party to decide who they want to run as the candidate for their party, so it would be pointless to let non party members vote in that.
Then you don't have to. This is only for primaries
im bona fide gonna ignore this sign and vote how i want anyway
He's a suitor!
Vernon’s got a job. Vernon’s got prospects.
All you ever did was get hit by that train
Lots of respectable people get hit by trains. Judge Hobby over in Cookeville got hit by a train.
He’s bonafide!
You can absolutely vote on the Republican ticket, kiddos. This is a “law” with no enforcement, since we don’t register as party affiliates here in TN. Go on with your bad selves and smash that Haley button if you like. EDIT: thanks for the Redditcares, chuds! Always nice to know I triggered y’all.
Yup. It was a dilemma -had to choose between Haley and Undecided
I begrudgingly had to vote republican because I wanted to vote for property assessor (I own a house and the challenger would have significantly affected me). Most folks running local here are republican. But I totally wrote in T Swift lol. Fuck yous guys. And fuck Bill Lee for intimidating voters and then coming out today to endorse Donald Trump. I can’t wait for this dick to be out of office.
You pick a party ballot in a primary. The End.
1. Do it anyway 2. It really doesn't matter as Trump and Biden have locked up the primaries for their parties.
I does matter for local elections in some places. For example, where I live there's a contested school board election where there's no democratic or independent candidate but two Republican candidates. One of them is insane and one isn't, but the whole election is basically being decided in the primary.
Before I saw your WilCo flair, I was thinking, “man this sounds like Lebanon.”
It could just as easily be Sumner. They had some psychos running for school board too. Thankfully they all lost, but it’s scary to think a few of them got close to winning.
Ah yes one that has vaguely done book bans but still sorta tried to give outs with parental permission slips. The other with a fucking cross and flag on their campaign signs. This is why it’s important to vote in primaries.
This specific school board race is the only reason I voted today.
Yes, that’s the consequence of our supermajority in TN. It sucks and it’s a huge problem out in the counties
That's weird. I voted in the 2020 presidential election, in the 2022 midterms, and nowhere in my registration to vote did it ask for my party affiliation. Such a stupid law. Why can't you just vote for who you want to vote for? Edit: I'm stupid😂
In the primary elections, they will ask if you want the Republican or Democrat ballot. As an example for this election... if you choose the Republican ballot, you will only be voting on their potential candidates (i.e. for president: Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, etc.); if you choose Democrat, you vote for their potential candidates. You will be asked by the election worker that verifies your ID.
Oh shit I'm stupid. This is for the candidate for president. Nevermind. I understand now.
The primaries are for any partisan race, not just President. Haley and Trump are running as Republicans for President, but there were other partisan primaries in some locations yesterday too.
It’s only for primaries when you pick which party’s ballot you want
Yeah I just realized how badly I misinterpreted it. I forgor(💀) what the election was for when I made the comment lol
This is a real subtle distinction. We don't register by party, but you're not supposed to vote in another partys primary. The signs are weird, and they're trying to discourage people who aren't diehard Republicans from voting in the Republican primary. That's what this is about. It's more or less been the law for decades, but only recently have Republicans started worrying about it.
Exactly right. They are worried that their party might be infiltrated by more reasonable people 😂
Nailed it
> Why can't you just vote for who you want to vote for? They would rather we didn't vote at all.
You can, but each party is hosting their own nominating “event” (we vote, some states caucus) so they will know which candidate to put on the general election ballot. We do not register by party in TN and we have open primaries, so you can have a say in either party’s primary now, then have a say about all of it in November.
Lol ill do what i want
No
Oops. I “accidentally” voted in the Republican primary. My b.
Do it anyway. Fuck em
I want to see somebody test this horse shit in court. The idea that you can gate voting based on intent is completely undemocratic. I don't understand why they didn't just switch to a closed primary. Having an open primary with this language is extremely bizarre.
The league of women voters tried and it was dismissed due to a lack of standing.
How do they prove it?
They don't want Democratic voters to vote Republican in the primary because they can vote for the candidate most likely to lose to the Democratic candidate in the general
I volunteered to be a poll worker for the first time yesterday in TN. They had it posted on the doors but in TN you don't have to be a member of a party to vote in the primary. We were instructed that when a voter came in we asked which primary they wanted to vote in, not which party they were a member of..... On the whole I found it to be a very good experience. Good people that were very serious about the entire process. I'm looking forward to volunteering in the fall.
Why would TN not simply change to the way other states do this where you register with a party? That said, I saw someone else mention what if you view yourself as an independent? Can’t you vote the way you are feeling that day? And hey, maybe I change how I plan to vote before the actual election. We all change our minds! I understand the very real reason they don’t want you to do it. It could be easy for one party to attempt to sabotage the other party’s options. But this unenforceable law is not the way.
Another unenforceable law 🤣🤣🤣 god our government is stupid
Open primaries are a bitch. All fair in politics. Donald said so.
I’m a bona fide republican today. November I will be a bona fide democrat.
Not really. You can switch parties for any reason.
To the letter of the useless law. But you signed a document declaring your party. During that election you were not independent.
I'm a TN independent who thinks the current batch of GOP are outright insane. Voting in the Republican primary for "lease terrible choice" is the only way I have any small influence on state elections as my recent general election Democrat votes have no chance at winning. I'm happy to abide by this toothless rule for a day at a time :)
No, the law. Next you’re going to say voter id is voter intimidation. If you know you’re part of the party, you have nothing to worry about
I DECLARE I’M A REPUBLICAN!! (I may not feel like it tomorrow though. We’ll see)
All I can hear is Holly Hunter’s voice… “Vernon here’s gotta job. Vernon’s got prospects. He’s bona fide. What are you?!” Better make sure y’all are bona fide.
I noticed it while voting for mayor and googled it leading up to the primaries. Someone has tried to have the law changed before, but the judge in the case basically said it hasn’t been enforced in 50 years so it’s staying.
Is that right? Wow. Just a kicking the can down the road mentality. Could you link your source?
https://apnews.com/article/ashe-poland-ambassador-tennessee-voting-republican-primary-de7b0f143ec7f3f4c99008c9dfa6dc44 Ah, my mistake. They tried to sue over it and got denied because the suit does “not adequately explain why a law that has been on the books for over 50 years is likely to suddenly confuse or intimidate voters”
Thanks! I think the reaction that this post has received would indicate that the law is indeed “suddenly confusing and intimidating voters.”
How would you even enforce that in an open primary? Maybe I've grown disillusioned with the party I've always voted for and want to try something else? How would the state determine you're actually "involved" in the party you're voting for? Isn't this what closed primaries are for?
I cannot fathom a way this could be enforced lawfully.
Tennessee does not require registration with a political party to vote in said party's primary.
what in the Oh Brother Where Art Thou is this?
Dear Tennessee legislators: fuck you 👍
I hate it when people don’t cut tape.
Why were you trying to sneak a Haley vote and got scared?
I think it’s called law enforcement.
No, the system has always been that only official party members may vote in a primary, because the parties choose the candidates for their party.
It did intimidate people.
If you’re intimidated when the rules are posted, you’re part of the problem.
Pretty stupid law, flat out. Voting is about choosing and anything that gets in the way of that freedom (which is an illusion these days anyway) just undermines the entire point of voting.
Sharing a law, or a fact, is voter intimidation? One side is MUCH dumber than the other. Yep yep yep.
No. It prevents assholes from voting for the worse candidate in the other party's primary
Primaries are for party members. Meaning Republicans vote for people that would best represent THEIR party in the election and democrats vote for people who would best represent THEIR party in the election. Trust me when I say that if people could vote in any primary, Trump WOULD NOT be the front runner in the Republican Party right now. In summary, THIS IS NOT VOTER INTIMIDATION AT ALL. THIS IS THE LAW.
No, it's informing people of the law
No. Imagine thinking every voting law is intimidation or an infringement lol. “How dare they not let me vote 300 times for a single election!”
Intimidation? What? Do you feel intimidated by simple instructions explaining the rules?
Everyone who votes in a primary is criminal in violation of the law since none of you are registered members of the party. You’re criminal scum and deserve disenfranchisement /s
That was indeed a “hot take” /s
Absolutely fucking against the law. I motherfucking dare you to arrest me. Come and take it, fuckface.
They can't arrest you, but a party poll watcher can challenge you. If you lose the challenge, you can't vote in that party's primary. I'm not defending it. It's stupid. But it's the law.
How exactly does a poll worker 'challenge' a voter? Are they issued white gloves to slap people across the face or something?
Are you familiar with the terms of a formal duel?
lol good luck. Since I moved to Nashville from Philly I always vote republican in primaries. Honestly open elections is something I wish PA would adopt. I generally trust my fellow Nashvillians to select a rational candidate to represent the democrats. It sucks on a local level that I can’t help choose and while the nominee might not be my first choice, I’m generally not that upset about the choice. On the other hand I do not trust republicans to make the rational choice. So if me doing the little I can to preserve our democracy then label me a traitor.
In other states I voted in I only had the ability to vote for people in my chosen party. The machine did not even give me an option. Is it not like that here in TN?
In Tennessee, you choose your party at the polling place on election day. This makes it easy to switch back and forth. That drives some people nuts.
When you go to vote they will ask if you want the Republican Party or Democratic Party ballot. When you go to the machine they select the one you chose and those are the options that are displayed by the machine.
You don't have to choose a party when you register here
Right, but you have to choose a party to vote in a primary election.
It’s not. You choose the ballot you want at the polling location.
That, and planting the idea that Haley is only getting votes from Democrats who are afraid of Trump. They do love their conspiracy theories.
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Does that mean we have closed primaries or is this nonsense?
Nonsense
Absolute intimidation. They can't prove one way or the other without releasing records which they will not do.
I never vote party line. I vote for the most sane competent candidate that fits my views and that means i vote all across the board.
Nope. You wouldn’t want Republicans voting as Democrats in the Primary for a candidate other than Biden, or writing in Trump’s name.
I heard on NPR today this case got dismissed because they had no legal standing.
I just went to my polling location and they asked what party I needed. That was it.
Welcome to Tennessee
Oh? And how the hell they gonna enforce it?
So if you're not a bona fide member of either party, you must 'declare intent' toaffiliate, And then..what? Would it be fun to ask the poll worker to witness your declaration of intent to affiliate?
If you have nothing to hide just show your ID and voter registration card, tell the poll workers if you are voting in the Democrat or Republican primary and go vote. Nothing complicated about that.
No it’s the truth.
Just use the mask defense. “It’s just a code and not a law, so I don’t have to follow it.”
Legally, no.
It's a vague stupid law with no way to prove anything or enforce anything. It's an empty law that's meant to scare people and force to vote along party lines. You don't have to talk to anyone about who you voted for or what party you're with. If anyone asks you there's nothing that stops you from lying. If you live in Tennessee or other places that post this type of scare tactic don't be afraid. There's nothing anyone can do to you
I was just having my own little issue with this yesterday, but for a different reason. Here on Wilson County there is an open seat on the Lebanon Special School District School Board, but because I requested the Democratic ballot, I wasn't offered the two options I've been seeing campaigning around the city because they're Republican Party candidates. This seems short-sighted because they're making the assumption that people who vote D tally their ballot based solely on that fact
"Help! help! they're quoting the law thus I'm being oppressed and intimidated" lol
Nope
Utterly unenforceable.
Ty
Rip em down
This law shouldn't exist. You should always vote for the person that better suits the the needs of the country. Guessing if you don't like your campsite you should just not vote?
Is “bona fide” a legal term?
I thought votes are cast using secret ballots. How would they know?
Since politicians can switch parties after a win when they get in office, then voters can decide to switch parties whenever they like
Yes, it is. The wording is misleading, at best. TN Code 2-7-115(b) is an affirmative right for a registered voter to declare a party affiliation and vote in the relevant primary. It does not carry a duty to vote for the candidate of that party in the general election. Section 2-19-102 does not appear to be relevant at all and section 2-19-107 makes it a class d felony to attempt to register if not eligible to vote or to vote more then once in the same election or to participate in more then one party's primary. This appears to be an attempt to dissuade people from so-called "strategic primary" voting, where they vote in the opposing party's primary to cast a vote for the most beatable candidate. This practice is not, in fact, illegal under the the cited TN codes.
Is this a youtube video?
Explaining the rules is not intimidation.
Party system is dumb vote on policy not red or blue
Political gang affiliation is what this sounds like to me
Why should you get to vote in a primary for a party you don't belong to? This isn't voter intimidation. This is an attempt at stopping Voter Manipulation.
Nope.
Essentially, a law with no teeth. Since registering to vote does not require you to specify a party affiliation, there’s no path to properly arresting you.
Is you is, or is you ain’t my constituencies
“I have every intention to vote republican once the party hosts a reasonable candidate” simple as that
No
That’s wack. I used to live in a smaller, red-leaning town, and if I really wanted any say in school board members, sheriffs, even Secretary of State, I’d have to vote in the GOP primaries. Often they’d run unopposed come November, so the primary *was* the election.
Whut? I go in and vote. There are no declarations of what I claim to be required...other than AMERICAN?
I know…laws…such a bulling tactic.🤡
I was wondering if maybe this was being posted at this polling place due to a good chick of registered Democrats voting undecided instead of Joe Brandon.
By the way, Kentucky, a place not known for smarts, requires that you register with one party or the other well before the election. When you show up, they give you the ballot based on your registration. You can change any time, but if you change in say 2024, then you can't vote in any 2024 primaries. You'd have to wait 'til next year.
actually in tennessee you are allowed to choose what primary you want to participate in on a case by case basis