Lawsuit prompts Nashville to fix ballot mistake, and a state investigation will look closer

A lawsuit over the mishandling of early voting ballots appears headed to a swift resolution in Nashville and is promising safeguards to protect voting rights.

The case follows the revelation earlier this week about 200 voters were given the wrong ballots and cast them in congressional races and some state House and Senate contests. The confusion has ties to Republican-led redistricting that divided Nashville into three congressional districts.

Both the lawsuit and an agreed upon settlement were filed simultaneously late Friday. The legal flurry also canceled a highly anticipated special meeting in which the Metro Council planned to question Elections Administrator Jeff Roberts.

Instead, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee sued Roberts, along with the Davidson County Election Commission, Gov. Bill Lee, Secretary of State Tre Hargett and state Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins. Those parties have agreed on a solution and are awaiting a judicial sign-off.

“Davidson County voters can now rest assured that their voice and their values will be heard in this election,” ACLU-TN legal director Stella Yarbrough said in a written statement.

More: Here are the full instructions for misassigned voters.

The agreement says officials will work to identify all misassigned voters and then includes several fixes:

• Voters who were given the wrong ballot will have the chance to enter additional provisional ballots in their correct district, and those would be counted if the vote tally is later contested.
• Special paper ballots will be available for anyone who lives in a district where there were errors, and paper ballots will be provided at both the correct and incorrect precincts.
• The state will follow up with an investigation and release its findings to the public, and officials agree to preserve all evidence, including maps and voter files.

“I feel as confident that I can that the fix is ready to go into place and it will address the issue,” Wallace Dietz, Metro’s legal director, told the Associated Press. A spokesperson for the secretary of state said that office supported the fixes and was “grateful” for the relief being provided to voters.

Some Democratic candidates have called for Roberts to be removed from his position. Earlier this week, he said the balloting issue had been fixed but that voters would not be able to correct their votes.

Earlier Friday, before the settlement was disclosed, one campaign indicated it was exploring its options as well. Voters in the 7th Congressional District were among those affected by the snafu, where Democrat Odessa Kelly is challenging incumbent Republican Mark Green.

A spokesperson for Kelly said they were still investigating the scope of the problem and “exploring every course of action possible to ensure every vote is counted.”

Instructions for voters

The state’s new guidance for Election Day says voters who have not yet cast ballots should go to their assigned precincts — which appear on voter registration cards. If that voter has been misassigned, they’ll vote on a special paper ballot that contains the correct contests and choices.

For those who were misassigned but already cast ballots during early voting, they’ll be allowed to cast a provisional ballot — but only at the Davidson County Election Commission office at 1417 Murfreesboro Pike.

Redistricting confusion

In a press conference earlier this week, Democrats also cast blame on the Republican-led General Assembly for the mishap. Nashville had previously been one unified congressional district — District 5 — but was carved up during redistricting to make three districts that lean more favorable to Republicans.

In South Nashville near Thompson Lane, parts of the redrawn 5th and 7th congressional districts run through a single neighborhood.

Nashville Rep. Vincent Dixie, D-Nashville, said on Thursday that the boundaries were purposefully drawn without regard to Davidson County voters.

“You can literally stand in one corner and be in three different districts depending on where your feet are,” Dixie said. “This is because of the Republican-controlled maps that they drew.”

Also upset is Hendrell Remus, the chairman of Tennessee’s Democratic Party. He says the problem is going to add to citizens reluctance to vote.

“The reality is voter apathy is already through the roof,” Remus said. “What we need is voters to feel more confident in going out and voting”

Dr. Jason Martin, the Democrat running for governor, has set up a voter protection hotline for citizens to use if they incur problems when trying to cast their ballot.

Kelly is focusing on urging voters not to get discouraged.

“We’re doing everything that we possibly can to fix it,” Kelly said. “We got the wheels and the cogs turning. But you got to turn out, and you got to vote.”

This story was last updated at 9:40 p.m. Saturday.