NASHVILLE – House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, and Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, say it’s time to let would-be Tennessee voters join with those in 29 other states and be allowed to register to vote online.
McCormick and Yager, chairman of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, announced Friday they have filed legislation to do just that. The measure provides for establishing an online voter registration system for Tennesseans with a number of what the lawmakers say are safeguards.
Voters with unexpired driver’s licenses or personal identification cards from the state Department of Safety would be able to go to an official state website where they could register to vote online.
“Online voter registration supplements the traditional paper-based registration process and will help encourage more Tennesseans to become involved in the political process,” McCormick said in a news release. “We serve at the will of the people, and I look forward to having even more constituents provide their input on important legislative decisions made within the General Assembly.”
Yager, chairman of the Senate State and Local Government Committee, said “in an electronic age, it makes sense to provide electronic registration if we have proper safeguards and validation steps.