AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-2-132, relative to the purging of permanent voter registration records.
Summary
SB0823 amends Tennessee Code Annotated § 2-2-132 to direct the state election commission to purge permanent voter registration records for persons whose registrations are required to be purged under § 2-2-106, unless federal law prohibits doing so. In practical terms, the bill ties the treatment of permanent registration records to the existing statutory rules governing when voter registrations must be removed, rather than leaving the purge language in its prior form.
The bill is narrowly focused on election administration and record maintenance. It does not create a new purge standard; instead, it clarifies that permanent registration records should be removed when a voter’s registration is subject to purge under the separate statutory provision, subject to any federal legal limits.
Impact
The bill would amend Tennessee’s election code by replacing the existing language in § 2-2-132 with a cross-reference to § 2-2-106. This affects the state election commission’s handling of permanent voter registration records and aligns record purging with the circumstances already established in law for purging registrations. The practical effect is on election officials and voter registration databases, with the caveat that federal law may override state purge requirements in some cases.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the materials supplied. Based on the text alone, the bill appears technical and administrative rather than controversial, and its purpose seems to be to clarify election-record procedures rather than change voter eligibility rules.
Contention
The only apparent point of contention is the scope of purging permanent voter registration records and whether the state’s purge practices are fully consistent with federal law. Because the bill expressly includes the phrase “unless otherwise prohibited by federal law,” any concern would likely center on compliance with federal voter-registration protections and the implementation of purge procedures by election administrators, rather than on partisan policy disputes in the text provided.