Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said he was disappointed that Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney questioned the integrity of state Rep. Eddie Yokley after voting for a bill that makes it easier for members of the U.S. Armed Forces to cast absentee ballots.

Devaney issued a press statement today criticizing Yokley for voting against a similar but inadequate bill that failed last year in a subcommittee he chaired. The ill-conceived bill was sponsored by state Rep. Gerald McCormick of Chattanooga. Yokley is a veteran of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

“It is shocking to me that Mr. McCormick and Mr. Devaney would resort to such despicable tactics,” Forrester said. “Everyone in this state should call for an apology from those two. Rep. Yokley served his country honorably while in the Army. He is now serving his state honorably in the state Legislature.

“Everyone who knows Rep. Yokley can attest to the fact that this is a man who works hard to represent the people of Greene and Cocke counties. Trying to paint him as someone who would vote against the best interests of the brave men and women who serve our country is disturbing.”

Devaney’s critical statement was released after the Subcommittee on Elections, which Yokley chairs, passed a bill today allowing county election officials to e-mail ballots to military personnel serving overseas. Military personnel must return an appropriate and secure ballot by traditional mail in order for their vote to count, the bill stipulates.

The failed bill would have allowed a soldier or someone impersonating that soldier to have simply faxed or e-mailed the absentee ballot, opening a huge window for possible voter fraud.

“The well-being and ready status of our troops is something I think of everyday,” Yokley said. “I have a son now serving in the military. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about him. As a state legislator, there are a number of ways that I try to do my part in serving our troops.

“Our right to vote is our most sacred right. It is what makes this country a democracy. The men and women of our armed forces make sacrifices everyday to defend the right to vote. Exposing our soldiers to the possibility of voter manipulation would be a disservice to their sacrifice. The bill we just passed is much better than the one that came before this subcommittee last year,” he added.