NASHVILLE, Tenn.
In what advocates are calling the most significant loosening of voting rights restoration rules in decades, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed into law a bipartisan bill removing two major financial obstacles that had long blocked formerly incarcerated Tennesseans from reclaiming their right to vote.
The Republican-supermajority Legislature approved the Democratic-sponsored change, which now lets people prove they have complied for the last year with child support orders, such as payment plans. The legislation also unties the payment of all court costs from voting rights restoration.
“This is huge, and this is history,” said Keeda Haynes, senior attorney for the advocacy group Free Hearts.
Tennessee is the only state in the country that ties the freedom to vote to child support payments — a requirement that drew years of legal challenges and legislative debate.
Roughly 184,000 people have completed supervision for felonies, and their offenses don’t preclude them from restoring their voting rights, according to a plaintiff’s expert’s 2023 estimate. About one in 10 were estimated to have outstanding child support payments, and more than six in 10 owed court costs, restitution, or both.
“I think people are at a point where they want to just remove the barriers out of the way and allow people to be fully functional members of society,” said Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper, a bill sponsor.
The measure uncommonly split legislative Republicans. Senate Speaker Randy McNally voted against it, while House Speaker Cameron Sexton supported it, noting that people aren’t getting forgiveness on making their payments.
Even with the recent improvements to Tennessee’s voting rights restoration law, access to the ballot does not happen automatically. The restoration process still requires individuals to petition a court, gather documentation, and navigate a system that can be difficult to understand without support. Advocacy groups, including Free Hearts and the Campaign Legal Center, say they will continue working to help eligible Tennesseans navigate the process.
