The Heritage Foundation has ranked the state of Tennessee number one in the nation on its election integrity scorecard.
Tennessee received a score of 84 out of 100, beating out Georgia’s 83 out of 100 for the top rating by one point.
The top five is rounded out by Alabama, Missouri, and South Carolina who received scores of 82, 80, and 79 respectively.
The five worst-ranked states in the nation on this scorecard are Hawaii, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Vermont.
The full list of state rankings and criteria can be found at the following link.
Separate categories are considered in the score and they include: Voter ID Implementation, Accuracy of Voter Registration Lists, Absentee Ballot Management, Vote Harvesting/Trafficking Restrictions, Access of Election Observers, Verification of Citizenship, Identification for Voter Assistance, Vote Counting Practices, Election Litigation Procedures, Restriction of Same-Day Registration, Restriction of Automatic Registration, and Restriction of Private Funding of Election Officials or Government Agencies.
Tennessee received 20 of 20 points for the state’s photo ID laws, a perfect score in that category.
The state received 25 out of 30 points in the Accuracy of Voter Registration Lists category. The scorecard notes that Tennessee is not a “member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), which compares the statewide voter registration lists of state members.”
Additionally, Tennessee received a 16 of 21 score for absentee ballot management. The state has a signature comparison requirement in place but does not require that the ballot “needs to be notarized or witnessed (with identifying information such as name, address, telephone number, and signature).”
Tennessee “does not allow third-party strangers, other than immediate family or a caregiver, to pick up and deliver a voter’s absentee ballot” and received a perfect score in the Vote Harvesting/Trafficking Restrictions category.
The state does not score well in the Election Litigation Procedures category, as the Tennessee General Assembly does not have standing to sue in order to ensure compliance with election laws that it has passed and does not have approval over changes to election laws that come as a result of a court settlement, according to the scorecard.
State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) tweeted the following in response to Tennessee’s ranking, “This year we passed legislation requiring random auditing, $20 mill for new paper ballot machines & prohibited consent decrees by local or state election officials. TN now ranks number 1 in the nation for election integrity.”
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, Truth Social, and Parler.
Photo “Election Day 2020” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
