Tennessee can keep enforcing felony voter restoration policy for now, appeals court says

Tennessee can enforce its existing voter registration process for people with felonies after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked a lower court's ruling last week.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Tennessee on its request for an emergency injunction in an ongoing lawsuit over its felony voter restoration process.

A federal judge in April found Tennessee violated federal law because its voter registration forms do not inform those with felony convictions they may be eligible to vote and because it requires unnecessary information from those with felony convictions before allowing them to register. The April ruling didn't settle all of the lawsuit's issues, so the case is still ongoing.

The lawsuit, filed in 2020, alleged a piecemeal system of enforcement across the state led to an unfair law impossible to navigate for those registering to vote with a felony on their record.

In early June, a judge issued an injunction blocking Tennessee from enforcing its policy in upcoming elections, which Tennessee quickly appealed to the higher court in light of its July 2 voter registration deadline.

The appeals court sided with state officials, finding the state was unfairly burdened by an unreasonable timeline to make changes to its policies.

"[The] district court’s June 5 injunction gave Tennessee less than a month to implement a statewide change concerning how election officials should process the registration forms of individuals with felony convictions. That timeline was too short," the June 28 ruling states.

Voter registration for the upcoming Aug. 1 primaries closed on July 2. Early voting begins on July 15.

Evan Mealins contributed to this report.