Tennessee Democrats continue legal feud over executive committee members

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Members of the Tennessee Democratic Party Executive Committee have filed an appeal to an April decision ruling that ex-officio members can vote on party business.

The case stems from a contentious Jan. 27 meeting of the TNDP Executive Committee, at which members debated addition of the Tennessee High school Democrats to the committee as an ex-officio voting member, ultimately voting to do so.

Democratic Party members file suit against Executive Committee over ex-officio voting rights

Plaintiffs in the suit against the Tennessee Democratic Party are Randall Rice, Meryl Rice, Erik Huth and John Summers, all of whom voted against the measure.

Other organizations with an ex-officio representative on the committee are the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses, the Tennessee Federation of Democratic Women, the Tennessee Democratic County Chairs Association (TDCCA), the Tennessee Young Democrats, College Democrats and High School Democrats.

Davidson County Circuit Court Judge David Briley ruled in April that only elected executive committee members should be allowed to vote as part of the primary board, but that ex-officio members retain their voting rights in all other matters.