NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A panel of federal appellate judges on Tuesday reinstated a Tennessee law requiring first-time voters in the state to appear in person to vote, reasoning in part that the COVID-19 pandemic is “unlikely to pose a serious threat during the next election cycle.”
In a 2-1 decision, a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel overturned a lower court’s ruling in September that blocked the restriction on absentee voting ahead of the 2020 general election. In October, a panel from the 6th Circuit decided to keep the preliminary injunction, with Judge Julia Smith Gibbons ruling that the court shouldn’t disrupt the new rules at that late stage in the election.
In reinstating the requirement, the same judge wrote Tuesday that there is not a “reasonable expectation” that voters will again face the same kind of burdens they did during the fall 2020 election.
“Fortunately, because of advancements in COVID-19 vaccinations and treatment since this case began, the COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to pose a serious threat during the next election cycle,” the ruling states.
The judge also said the legal standing to bring the case, through a member of the Tennessee NAACP, disappeared once the state Supreme Court separately rolled back another judge’s widespread expansion of a vote-by-mail option last year.