Lessons Learned from Voting During the Pandemic in Tennessee 

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by Jim Weber/Daily Memphian via AP)

In June 2022, ThinkTN   joined the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights – an independent, bipartisan agency established by Congress to examine instances of discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws under the Constitution – for a conversation about Tennessee voting policies.  

Dawn Schluckebier, ThinkTN’s Advocacy and Government Relations Director, was invited to share her expertise, along with two other expert panelists. The panel – one in a series of six hosted by the committee – focused on voting during the Covid-19 pandemic in Tennessee, particularly absentee voting.  

During the discussion, ThinkTN shared information from its Voting During the Pandemic briefs   and highlighted how current restrictions on the distribution of absentee application forms makes it difficult for Tennesseans to help eligible voters to vote absentee.

ThinkTN comments, along with those of other panelists, was used to inform the Commission’s forthcoming report on whether voting laws, policies, or practices in Tennessee create unjustifiable barriers to voting.

ThinkTN participation in the panel builds on its ongoing efforts to promote policy solutions that will streamline the voting process and further secure Tennessee’s elections. For more information, see ThinkTN recommendations in its Election 2020 After-Action Report.