Report: Still Locked Out from Voting in Tennessee

This story was originally published in Public News Service.

In Tennessee, almost a half-million people will not be able to vote in any upcoming election because of a past felony conviction, and a new survey found counties are not making the issue easy to remedy.

According to research from The Sentencing Project, more than 420,000 Tennesseans with felony convictions cannot vote.

The League of Women Voters of Tennessee conducted a survey with the county officials responsible for implementing the mandated process of restoring voting rights for these individuals.

Katherine Greenberg, research coordinator for the League, said they found some barriers, including county officials who did not understand the process.

"Lack of clarity in the Tennessee certificate of restoration process," Greenberg outline. "It's a process. It's not an application that people make, but rather they have to get a form filled out in every county -- or perhaps every state or federal court -- where they have been convicted of a felony."

Greenberg noted the report's authors at the Collateral Consequences Research Center found fewer than 5% of Tennesseans who have completed their felony sentences succeed in restoring their voting rights.

Greenberg pointed out the research found many county officials did not explain a person's option to waive some legal financial obligations if declared indigent by a judge. And some officials cited a lack of access to accurate and complete criminal court databases. Tennessee does not have a statewide database, which makes it tougher to find information about convictions.

Greenberg emphasized the League sees the need for better coaching for county officials, to ensure due process for anyone trying to restore their voting rights.

"We believe that officials should be thoroughly trained to understand," Greenberg stressed. "And that a much better job be done of providing guidelines for individuals who wish to seek reinstatement of their voting rights through this process."

In Tennessee, voting rights can be restored after a person completes their sentence, including any probation or parole, paying off related fines, fees and restitution, and being current on child support.