TNDP Calls for Implementation of the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act

NASHVILLE, TN – Today, the Tennessee Democratic Party called for state legislators to reject a plan to delay implementation of the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (TVCA).

“When the TVCA is implemented, Tennessee’s elections will be more secure, more accurate, and less expensive. There’s no good reason to wait,” said TNDP Chair Chip Forrester.

The TVCA was passed with broad bipartisan support and signed into law by Governor Phil Bredesen on June 5, 2008. The TVCA requires that all Tennessee counties make the switch to paper ballots before the November 2010 election.

Currently, only Hamilton and Pickett counties use paper ballots. The other 93 counties use paperless touch-screen voting machines, also known as Direct Record Electronic (DRE) machines. DREs are expensive to maintain, prone to error, and have no mechanism in place to produce verifiable results or meaningful recounts.

The legislation that would delay the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act is SB 0872, sponsored by Sen. Bill Ketron, (R-Murfreesboro) and HB 0614, sponsored by Rep. Curry Todd (R-Collierville).

“It’s true that the economy has forced everyone to cut back,” Forrester said. “And I recognize that our county commissioners are concerned about the cost of implementing the TVCA. But the new optical scan machines will be paid for by $25 million in federal funds from the Help America Vote Act. Plus, other states report that switching from DREs to paper ballots actually saves money in the long run.”

“Tennesseans deserve full confidence in the security of our elections. We can’t afford to put these crucial reforms on hold.”

Link to bill
Link to fiscal report (PDF)