NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s eligibility to vote by mail still includes people who are more susceptible to COVID-19, their caretakers and their housemates — a specification that emerged during a prolonged 2020 court battle.
The eligibility remains on the absentee application and the secretary of state’s website, past the height of the pandemic. The secretary of state’s office confirmed this week that the option will stay in place for the Nov. 8 election.
Meanwhile, first-time voters in Tennessee do need to appear in person to vote or show ID at the local election office before voting by mail, if they qualify. A federal judge had blocked the requirement for the 2020 general election amid the pandemic, but an appeals court reinstated it in 2021.
The deadline to submit an application to vote by mail is Nov. 1. Completed absentee ballots must be mailed in time for the county election commission to receive it no later than the close of polls on Election Day.