Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee House Bill HB0458 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	SENATE BILL 367
3	3	By Briggs
4	4
5	5	HOUSE BILL 458
6	6	By Rudd
7	7
8	8
9	9	HB0458
10	10	001630
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13	13	AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2 and
14	14	Title 55, Chapter 50, relative to elections.
15	15
16	16	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
17	17	SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-141(a), is amended by deleting
18	18	the subsection and substituting instead:
19	19	(a) The coordinator of elections shall make monthly comparisons of the
20	20	statewide voter registration database with the department of safety database to ensure
21	21	non-United States citizens are not registered to vote in this state. The coordinator of
22	22	elections is further authorized to compare the statewide voter registration database with
23	23	those of relevant federal and state agencies, including the systematic alien verification
24	24	for entitlements (SAVE) program database, department of safety, department of
25	25	correction, state vital records division, state welfare and public assistance agencies, and
26	26	county records for the same purpose. If evidence exists that a particular registered voter
27	27	is not a citizen of the United States, then the coordinator of elections shall notify the
28	28	county election commission where the person is registered to vote that the registered
29	29	voter may not be a citizen of the United States.
30	30	SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 2, Part 1, is amended by
31	31	adding the following as a new section:
32	32	(a) A registered voter may challenge the qualifications of another person
33	33	applying to register to vote in the county or the qualifications of a person whose name
34	34	appears on the voter registration list. A registered voter challenging another person's
35	35	qualifications under this section shall make the challenge in writing and specify with
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40	40	particularity the grounds of the challenge. There is no limit on the number of persons
41	41	whose qualifications such voter may challenge.
42	42	(b) Upon such challenge being filed with the county election commission, the
43	43	commission shall notify the person whose qualifications are being challenged of the
44	44	challenge within ten (10) business days after the challenge is filed. The notice must
45	45	include the date, time, and place of the hearing, which must be set no sooner than ten
46	46	(10) business days after serving notice of the challenge, and include a copy of the
47	47	challenge. Such notice must be served by first-class mail addressed to the mailing
48	48	address shown on the person's voter registration records.
49	49	(c) The voter making the challenge has the burden to prove that the person
50	50	being challenged is not qualified to be registered or remain on the list of voters.
51	51	(d) After the hearing, the county election commission shall make a determination
52	52	and notify the parties of their decision. If the county election commission upholds the
53	53	challenge, then the person's application for registration must be rejected or the person's
54	54	name removed from the list of voters, as appropriate. The county election commission
55	55	shall notify the person of such decision in writing by first-class mail addressed to the
56	56	mailing address shown on the person's voter registration records.
57	57	(e) Either party may appeal from the decision of the county election commission
58	58	to the state election commission by filing a petition with the state election commission
59	59	within ten (10) days after the date of the decision of the commissioners. A copy of the
60	60	petition must be served upon the other parties and the county election commission.
61	61	Unless and until the decision of the county election commission is reversed by the state
62	62	election commission, the decision of the county election commission stands.
63	63	SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-115(b)(7), is amended by
64	64	deleting the subdivision.
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69	69	SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 2, Part 1, is amended by
70	70	adding the following as a new section:
71	71	(a) Each person who registers by mail or online, or through an agency other than
72	72	a county election commission or the department of safety, shall appear in person to vote
73	73	in the first election the person votes in after such registration becomes effective. Before
74	74	voting at the appropriate polling place or election commission office, the person shall
75	75	present satisfactory proof of identity.
76	76	(b) The requirement to appear in person to vote in the first election does not
77	77	apply to:
78	78	(1) A person who is on the permanent absentee voting register; or
79	79	(2) A person who is in the address confidentiality program under title 40,
80	80	chapter 38, part 6.
81	81	SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-6-201(5)(A), is amended by
82	82	deleting the subdivision and substituting instead:
83	83	(A) A person sixty-five (65) years of age or older when the person requests to
84	84	vote absentee;
85	85	SECTION 6. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-5-207(b)(2), is amended by
86	86	deleting the subdivision and substituting instead:
87	87	(2) Except for ballots authorized by state or federal law to be delivered
88	88	electronically to qualified voters who are entitled to vote by absentee ballot, all ballots
89	89	must include a watermark approved by the coordinator of elections. The coordinator of
90	90	elections may define the method and type of watermark to be placed on the ballot and
91	91	may authorize the use of invisible ink or pre-printed opaque images to produce the
92	92	watermark. The watermark must be easily discernible for verification purposes by the
93	93	counting board.
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98	98	SECTION 7. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-20-101, is amended by adding the
99	99	following as a new subsection:
100	100	(d) All optical scanners used to tabulate votes must scan the hand-marked
101	101	selections or the machine-printed text selections. A QR code, bar code, or similar code
102	102	that is unreadable by a human must not be used as a marking to be scanned by an
103	103	optical scanner for vote tabulation.
104	104	SECTION 8. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-8-108, is amended by adding the
105	105	following as new subsections:
106	106	(c) Optical scanners used to tabulate votes must create and save a digital image
107	107	of each ballot scanned. The digital images must have a resolution of at least six
108	108	hundred (600) dots per inch.
109	109	(d) The secretary of state shall, no later than the second Friday after an election,
110	110	make available on the secretary of state's website the digital images created pursuant to
111	111	subsection (c).
112	112	SECTION 9. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-106(b), is amended by deleting
113	113	the following language:
114	114	The county election commission shall complete the address verification process
115	115	at least on a biennial basis, but may do so annually.
116	116	and substituting instead:
117	117	The county election commission shall complete the address verification process
118	118	at least quarterly and not less than thirty (30) days after beginning the process.
119	119	SECTION 10. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-106(c)(1), is amended by
120	120	deleting the subdivision and substituting instead:
121	121	(1) To identify any voter who has changed the voter's address of residence
122	122	without notifying the county election commission, the address verification program
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127	127	implemented by the county election commission under subsection (b) must use one (1)
128	128	or more of the following sources:
129	129	(A) The return of mail sent by the county election commission to the voter
130	130	at the voter's address of registration. The mail sent to the voter may include,
131	131	without limitation, a non-forwardable verification card, a non-forwardable voter
132	132	registration card, or a notice mailed pursuant to § 2-3-105 or § 2-5-211;
133	133	(B) The United States postal service's national change of address
134	134	service;
135	135	(C) Information received from the coordinator of elections as a result of a
136	136	comparison of voter registration addresses with the residential addresses of
137	137	record with the department of safety. The coordinator of elections shall transmit
138	138	this information to the county election commissions at least thirty (30) days prior
139	139	to the end of each quarter. To conduct the comparison of residential addresses,
140	140	the department of safety and the coordinator of elections shall retrieve the data
141	141	applicable to the voter's address of residence and match the voter's registration
142	142	address with data applicable to the voter's matching record with the department
143	143	of safety. The coordinator of elections shall obtain from the department of safety
144	144	a list of all persons who have surrendered their Tennessee driver license while
145	145	obtaining a driver license from another state;
146	146	(D) Information received from the coordinator of elections as a result of a
147	147	comparison of voter registration addresses with the residential addresses of
148	148	record with another state agency, including, but not limited to, state welfare and
149	149	public assistance agencies. The coordinator of elections shall transmit this
150	150	information to the county election commissions at least thirty (30) days prior to
151	151	the end of each quarter. The coordinator of elections shall compare the
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156	156	statewide voter registration database with those of other relevant state agencies
157	157	and county records for this purpose; and
158	158	(E) Information received from the coordinator of elections as a result of a
159	159	comparison of voter registration addresses to commercially available data, such
160	160	as data from credit agencies. The coordinator of elections shall transmit this
161	161	information to the county election commissions at least thirty (30) days prior to
162	162	the end of each quarter.
163	163	SECTION 11. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-120(a), is amended by deleting
164	164	the subsection and substituting instead:
165	165	(a) Prior to adding a registrant to a county's voter registration list, the
166	166	administrator of elections shall determine, from the registrant's answers to the questions
167	167	on the permanent registration record or other questions and from checking state
168	168	databases regarding residency and citizenship, whether the registrant is entitled to
169	169	register. If the administrator determines that the registrant is entitled to register, then the
170	170	administrator shall declare the registrant a registered voter.
171	171	SECTION 12. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-120, is amended by adding the
172	172	following as a new subsection:
173	173	(d) At least monthly, each county election commission shall conduct routine
174	174	voter list maintenance to ensure that all voter registrations are being maintained and
175	175	checking for accuracy of the voter registration list.
176	176	SECTION 13. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55, Chapter 50, Part 3, is amended by
177	177	adding the following as a new section:
178	178	A driver license or photo identification license issued to a person who is a legal
179	179	resident but who is not a United States citizen must indicate that the person to whom the
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184	184	license was issued is not eligible to vote by having printed prominently on the front of the
185	185	license the following:
186	186	NOT ELIGIBLE TO VOTE
187	187	SECTION 14. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-3-109(e)(2)(B), is amended by
188	188	deleting the language "§ 2-2-115(b)(7)" and substituting instead "SECTION 4".
189	189	SECTION 15. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-6-201, is amended by deleting the
190	190	language "§ 2-2-115(b)(7)" and substituting instead "SECTION 4".
191	191	SECTION 16. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.