Group now ranks Tennessee as tops nationally in election integrity

Jon Styf

The Center Square

Tennessee has the most secure elections in the country, according to a new election integrity scorecard from The Heritage Foundation.

The policy group ranks states based upon factors such as voter ID, accuracy of voter rolls, absentee ballot management, election observer access, vote harvesting restrictions and verification of citizenship.

Tennessee earned all 20 points for voter ID along with ranking tied for fourth with 25 points for voter registration list accuracy.

“This year we passed legislation requiring random auditing, $20 mill for new paper ballot machines & prohibited consent decrees by local or state election officials,” Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, tweeted about the updated rankings.

The rankings were initially posted by The Heritage Foundation in December, but the group says it regularly updates those rankings based upon new laws.

“Even the best laws are not worth much if responsible officials do not enforce them rigorously. It is up to the citizens of each state to make sure that their elected and appointed public officials do just that,” the report said.

Tennessee passed laws this year, called the Election Integrity Act, to add watermarks to absentee ballots, and Gov. Bill Lee included $15 million in his budget amendment for new voter-verified paper audit train voting machines.

Overall, Tennessee earned 84 points from the rankings, putting it just ahead of Georgia (83), Alabama (82), Missouri (80) and South Carolina (79).

The lowest ranked states were Hawaii (26), Nevada (28), California (30), Oregon (38) and Vermont (39).