Tennessee became one of the last states to expand mail-in voting earlier this month when Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled that voters under 60 can request an absentee ballot because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lyle’s ruling has been appealed by the state of Tennessee, but the Supreme Court said earlier this month it won’t consider the appeal in time for the August election.
That means voters in all 95 counties can request an absentee ballot, at least for that election.
Tennessee was one of a vast majority of states that had strict rules for requesting an absentee ballot before the pandemic hit. Voters had to be 60 or older, in the military or living out of town to make such a request. Additionally, voters with a medical condition that essentially left them bedridden could request a ballot.