Tennessee Pushes for Election Integrity at the United States Supreme Court

Tennessee Pushes for Election Integrity at the United States Supreme Court

Tennessee has joined Missouri and 19 other states in filing an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court of the United States to review and overturn a federal appellate decision that struck down a Pennsylvania law requiring voters to handwrite the date on mail-in ballots.

The multistate brief supports a petition filed by the Republican National Committee and argues that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit wrongly invalidated the rule inEakin v. Adams County Board of Elections. The states contend that the decision interferes with the authority of state legislatures to regulate elections and oversteps constitutional limits on the judicial role.

"Democracy only works if people have faith in elections," said Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter. "Common sense safeguards, like requiring a voter to handwrite a date on a mail-in-ballot envelope, should not be controversial. Courts need to protect the legitimacy of the electoral process, not undermine it."

In the filing, the states argue that the Third Circuit's decision undermines federalism and the separation of powers by giving federal courts undue authority over election administration. The brief emphasizes that the U.S. Constitution assigns primary responsibility for setting election procedures to state legislatures, which have a strong interest in deterring and detecting election fraud and maintaining the integrity of the voting process.

The states also note that the Supreme Court has never held that a neutral ballot-casting regulation imposes a severe burden on the right to vote when it applies equally to all voters. According to the brief, the Third Circuit's reasoning could allow courts to invalidate even straightforward election-integrity measures that have long been used to ensure orderly elections.

The coalition is asking the Supreme Court to grant review of the case and ultimately reverse the Third Circuit's decision.

In addition to Tennessee, attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia joined the Missouri-led filing.

Read the brief.