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State elections coordinator: amendment could disenfranchise missionary and military families
Summary
Mark Goins, Tennessee's coordinator of elections, told the subcommittee that amendment 012576 may unintentionally bar people with genuine Tennessee ties — including missionary children and some military dependents — from voting absentee unless language is revised.
Mark Goins, coordinator of elections for Tennessee, told the subcommittee that the amendment attached to HB 851 uses phrasing unfamiliar in state law and could extend beyond the sponsor's intent, putting some overseas Tennesseans at risk of disenfranchisement.
Goins explained that the state maintains a temporary-registration carve-out for overseas citizens and that "each time that individual, seeks to vote at least 1 time a year, they're gonna have to fill out a new voter restoration form." He described examples — missionary children who have never lived in the state and long-serving military families who sold their homes before deployment — and said that while the affected group is small, the amendment "would put us in the minority" of states by narrowing access.
Goins also warned that counties would face litigation and added administrative burdens if the amendment forces election commissions to verify residency each time a UOCAVA ballot is requested. He recommended the sponsor and staff clarify the language to avoid unintended consequences.
