NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The last day to request an absentee ballot is Thursday, July 30, for Tennesseans wishing to avoid the polls on August 6, the state's Democratic primary election day. Voting-rights advocates say residents should first verify they are eligible to vote by mail before they start the process.

Charlane Oliver, founder of the group Equity Alliance, points out that Tennessee has only expanded vote-by-mail to registered voters who have voted before.

"If you are a first-time voter, such as someone who is in college, you may have never voted before," says Oliver. "Or if you're new to Tennessee and just moved here, you are ineligible, unfortunately, to request an absentee ballot. So that's very important to know."

She notes that postage stamps are required in order to mail absentee ballots back to the election commission. In-person early voting continues through August 1.

To find early voting poll hours and locations, residents must contact their local county election commission office.

So far, the Secretary of State's office is reporting more than 90,000 residents have cast their ballots either through in-person early voting or by mail, much higher than in previous elections.

Oliver believes that despite the hardship caused by the novel coronavirus, it's critical for communities to stay engaged on the issues and find a way to cast their ballot.

"And I hope during this pandemic, during this time when we're seeing massive layoffs, seeing how people's health care is connected to their jobs, and how these policies are made by policy makers, and the policymakers are elected by the people," says Oliver.

The Equity Alliance has developed a nonpartisan 2020 Tennessee Voter Guide to help residents make informed decisions when voting in this year's elections. Guides are available for Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga.

In addition, the free phone app 'GoVoteTN' allows voters to find their Election Day polling locations and view sample ballots.


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The second year of the 134th Ohio General Assembly officially starts today, as both the state House and Senate convene.

One of the most urgent tasks for lawmakers will be to rework the 15 congressional districts they approved in November, which were invalidated by the state Supreme Court last week for favoring the GOP. The Legislature has until mid-February to approve a new map.

While the biennium budget was a focus in 2021, this year it's the capital budget. Desiree Tims, president and chief executive of the group Innovation Ohio, said it provides funding for state agency infrastructure needs as well as local community projects.

"This is why people vote for their state reps and their state senators," she said. "We're looking to them to manage the budget and to make sure the money and taxpayer dollars return back into communities. This is something that people on the ground will feel immediately."

Legislators will submit priorities for new capital projects by April 1. Some bills expected to be advanced this year include House Bill 376, to help protect consumer data, House Bill 389, which would restore components of Ohio's gutted energy-efficiency law, and Senate Bill 236, which enables insurers using an online platform to automatically enroll purchasers in digital communications.

With 2022 being an election year, the General Assembly will break for the May primary in mid-April. Tims noted that campaign years are a little tricky because lawmakers are trying to get a "win" with voters. She said she's concerned those attempts to gain political points could focus on policies that lean toward extremism.

"Most Ohioans want the Legislature to get things done, and extremism doesn't make our state stronger, it doesn't make our democracy stronger," she said. "It actually weakens it - such as attacking education, such as dangerous gun bills like permitless carry, and of course, the ongoing attacks on reproductive freedom."

Other issues possibly coming this session include an omnibus criminal-justice reform bill and a measure to use artificial intelligence to reduce the occasions that Ohioans must interact in person or by mail with government.

This story was produced with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Groups representing young people in Montana hope to stop a slate of election laws from going into effect before the state's primary in June.

The Forward Montana Foundation, Montana Public Interest Research Group and Montana Youth Actionan end to election-day registration and stricter voter ID laws that require another form of identification with a student ID. Rylee Sommers-Flanagan, founder and executive director of Upper Seven Law, is representing the group.

"When you have a bunch of laws that restrict voting - or that even nominally make voting more difficult - those laws will interact with one another to land most heavily on youth populations," she said, "so you're just going to see a natural reduction in youth turnout because you've made it more complicated for them."

The groups also are challenging a law that prohibits ballots from being sent out to voters before their 18th birthday, even those who will be 18 by Election Day. Montana lawmakers and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen have said these laws are necessary to ensure the integrity of the state's elections, a top concern for Republicans.

The youth civics groups have filed a motion for preliminary injunction to stop these laws from being enforced before the Montana primary on June 7. Sommers-Flanagan called it it unfortunate that the Montana Legislature has set up these impediments to voting for young people.

"They're disappointing in the sense that I wish that we didn't have to bring them," she said, "but they're exciting in the sense that especially the youth voting case is one that talks about young people caring a lot about being involved in politics, and being involved in elections, and having a role in the way that democracy unfolds."

A hearing is scheduled for March 10. The court also will hear other challenges to election laws, including a suit from Native American groups on the law ending election-day voter registration.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

A ballot initiative in Missouri is seeking to change the way statewide elections are run.

Currently, in the Show-Me State, there are party primaries in August, and voters choose between the winners of the primaries in November.

The Better Elections initiative seeks to move to what's known as ranked-choice voting.

Rosetta Okohson, a Democratic consultant and co-leader of the political action committee Better Elections, said under the model they are proposing, everybody votes for their top choice from any party in one primary election, then the top four would move onto the general election, where voters can rank them in order of preference.

"Things have been very polarized in our most recent elections, and voter participation has been very low," Okohson observed. "We know more people show up in November, and are more engaged in November, and we want voters to feel good about having different options."

She added while some voters are strong partisans, others may want to vote for a Democrat in one race and a Republican in another.

Under the proposal, party labels still would be included next to people's names on the ballot, so voters still would know which candidates represent which party. Opponents of ranked-choice voting say the current primary system works, and there is no reason to change it.

John Hancock, a Republican consultant and co-leader of the campaign, said some voters do not like to publicly disclose their political leanings, but they have to in order to vote in the primary.

He pointed out since strong partisans tend to be more engaged primary voters, Republican candidates tend to run as far to the right as they can, and Democratic candidates tend to run to the left. He hopes the new system can address those issues.

"Under this system, if I'm one of four Republicans running, I'm not going to tear down my fellow candidates, because if a voter is going to vote for them as their first choice, I want to be their second choice," Hancock emphasized. "It will make campaigns more broad-based. I think it will make campaigns less divisive. And I think it'll produce better elected officials."

The constitutional amendment has been approved by the Secretary of State's office for signature gathering. To appear on the ballot, the campaign will need at least 160,000 signatures by May, the number determined by turnout from the last gubernatorial election.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.