NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Republican-dominated Tennessee House is sparking fears of an unprecedented breach of judicial independence by moving forward with a proposal to remove a judge for expanding absentee voting in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A resolution with nearly unanimous House GOP support is calling for proceedings that could remove Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, whose ruling was ultimately overturned by the state Supreme Court but only after the state promised to allow people at higher risk of COVID-19 complications to vote by mail.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the resolution seeks to “truly see if she was legislating from the bench, which we don’t think should be allowed.”
Many states expanded access to absentee balloting or other voting methods due to concerns about the coronavirus spreading at crowded Election Day polling places, despite arguments by former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies that any expansions should have legislative approval.
The proposal has uncertain prospects in the Senate, where GOP Speaker Randy McNally said it’s “definitely not a slam dunk.” Instead of removing Lyle, McNally said he would rather reconfigure where constitutional challenges against the state are heard, moving more of them to Republican-leaning areas instead of Nashville.