RHB/1/21
Sponsored by Julia Gardner, Aidan McRorie of Baylor School
This legislation was filed in the General Services category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1) Terms in this act shall be defined as follows: |
| 4 | a) Same-day Voter Registration: Allows any qualified resident of the state to register to vote |
| 5 | and cast a ballot on the same day. |
| 6 | b) Eligible Individual: Any person who falls within the Tennessee Requirements to vote. They |
| 7 | must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of Tennessee, and at least 18 years old by the next election. |
| 8 | c) Election Day: The annual day for general elections of federal public officials, occurring on the |
| 9 | first Tuesday after 1 November. |
| 10 | d) Early Voting: Also known as advance polling or pre-poll voting, early voting is a convenience |
| 11 | voting process by which voters in a public election can vote before a scheduled election day. |
| 12 | e)Polling Place: A building where voting takes place during an election. |
| 13 | f) National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA): Requires each State to establish Federal |
| 14 | election voter registration procedures by application in person at a designated Federal, State, or |
| 15 | nongovernmental office, or at the applicant’s registration site in accordance with State law. |
| 16 | g) Election Day Administrators: The government officials and poll workers who oversee |
| 17 | electoral processes. The primary responsibility of such administrators is to assure voting |
| 18 | procedures are conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. |
| 19 | h) Ballot on Demand Systems (BOD): Stand-alone units that print ballots for each |
| 20 | precinct/ballot style within a locality. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Section 2) The State shall permit any eligible individual on the same day of Election Day, and on |
| 23 | any day when voting, including early voting, to: |
| 24 | a) Register to vote in elections at the polling place using a form that meets the requirements |
| 25 | laid out by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993; |
| 26 | i) Eligible Individuals must follow the set Tennessee voting requirements when participating |
| 27 | in same-day voter registration. Voters must present proof of citizenship, identity, and legal |
| 28 | residency at the time of registering; |
| 29 | 1) Accepted proof includes: |
| 30 | (i) Valid photo identification; |
| 31 | (ii)Photo ID issued by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security; |
| 32 | (iii)Photo ID issued by the Tennessee state government; |
| 33 | (iv)Photo ID issued by the federal government; |
| 34 | (v) United States Military Photo ID; |
| 35 | (vi)Driver’s License; |
| 36 | (vii) United States Passport; |
| 37 | (viii)Tennessee Handgun carry permit; |
| 38 | 2) Proof of Legal Residence; |
| 39 | |
| 40 | (ii)Bank Statement; |
| 41 | (iii) Government check; |
| 42 | (iv) Paycheck; |
| 43 | (v)Other government document that shows the voter’s name and address; |
| 44 | ii) If the individual is already registered to vote, they also may revise any of their own voter |
| 45 | registration information; |
| 46 | b) Cast a vote in such elections. |
| 47 | |
| 48 | Section 3) The Department of State shall implement voter education campaigns to increase eligible |
| 49 | individuals’ awareness of the same-day voter registration provisions made by this bill through: |
| 50 | a) Providing a summary of the provisions made by this bill via the Tennessee State |
| 51 | Government website; |
| 52 | b) Issuing a press release about this bill within the first week of January 2026; |
| 53 | (i) This press release will not only outline the basic provisions made by this bill, but also its |
| 54 | potential impact on eligible voters and voter turnout in Tennessee; |
| 55 | c) Issuing public notices about this bill in local newspapers within the first week of January |
| 56 | 2026; |
| 57 | d) Mailing information about this bill to eligible voters in Tennessee prior to the early voting |
| 58 | period for each annual Election Day held in Tennessee until the end of the 2030 election season; |
| 59 | e) Announcing the provisions made by this bill on official Tennessee State Government social |
| 60 | media accounts; |
| 61 | i) Posts shall include links to the information about this bill on the Tennessee State |
| 62 | Government website, as mentioned in Section (3) Subsection (a), and a transcript of the press |
| 63 | release mentioned in Section (3) Subsection (b). |
| 64 | |
| 65 | Section 4) The impact of same-day voter registration on Election Day administrators and voter |
| 66 | turnout will be reviewed by the Department of State once every 2 years; |
| 67 | a) The Department of State will release a report on their findings beginning March 2, 2027, |
| 68 | including, but not limited to: |
| 69 | (i) The total number of eligible individuals in Tennessee; |
| 70 | (ii) The total number of eligible individuals who were registered to vote in Tennessee; |
| 71 | (iii)The total number of eligible individuals who were registered to vote and also voted in |
| 72 | Tennessee; |
| 73 | (iv)The total number of eligible individuals who registered to vote on the same day they |
| 74 | voted; |
| 75 | (v) Data analysis of voter turnout; |
| 76 | (vi) Demographic information; |
| 77 | (vii) The ability of election administrators to efficiently accommodate same-day voter |
| 78 | registration. |
| 79 | |
| 80 | Section 5) This bill would require $500,000 in funding allocated from the state election budget to |
| 81 | be overseen and distributed by the Department of State to: |
| 82 | a) Purchase additional equipment such as ballot-on-demand printers; |
| 83 | b) Provide training to election officials on same-day voter registration procedures; |
| 84 | c) Conduct voter education campaigns. |
| 85 | |
| 86 | Section 6) All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. |
| 87 | |
| 88 | Section 7) This law shall take effect on January 1, 2026. |
| 89 |