Thousands of Tennessee voters have received a new letter following last month’s notice that received criticism for being potentially intimidating to voters. The updated letter has been sent out to ensure that voters are not discouraged from exercising their right to vote.
According to the notice released in June, registered voters were required to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship or request to be removed from the voter roll. Additionally, the notice included a warning that voting illegally could result in a jail sentence of up to two years.
Election officials in Tennessee have sent a follow-up letter to the 14,000 individuals, stating that they will not be removed from the voting rolls if they do not provide proof of citizenship.
Jan Kalnas, a resident of Brentwood, was among the recipients of the notice. In 2003, she moved to Nashville from Canada and obtained her green card in 2005 before becoming a citizen in 2011.
Upon receiving the letter, Kalnas was taken aback as she had never faced any issues while casting her vote in every election since then.
Kalnas expressed his initial response to the situation, stating that he believed it to be an act of voter intimidation. He noted that the language used was difficult to decipher, as it was written in legal terms. The notice indicated that he would need to remove his name from the roster if he was not a citizen, but it was unclear whether he needed to provide documentation or not. As a result, Kalnas was uncertain whether he would be able to vote in the upcoming election.
Kalnas reached out to Election Coordinator Mark Goins, expressing her concern about potentially losing her right to vote and requesting an in-person meeting to address the matter.
According to her statement, Goins utilized driver’s license data from 2003 to back up the letter he sent her. When they met, he pointed fingers at the Biden administration for not procuring more recent information.
Kalnas accused Mr. Goins of being indolent and neglectful of his duties by sending out a letter to remove names from the voting roster within 90 days of an election, despite knowing the law prohibits it. “That just means you are too lazy to get your own job done,” Kalnas said. The law prevents people from being removed, and Mr. Goins was aware of this fact, yet he still sent out the letter.
After receiving a second letter this week, WSMV4 contacted the Secretary of State’s Office for clarification. The election office expressed their desire to clear up any confusion caused by the initial letter and condemned organizations that labeled it as voter intimidation.
According to Goins, the letter that was sent out on June 13th was simply an opportunity for people to update their records. It was not intended to pressure anyone into responding or to threaten removal from the voter list. Goins reassured the public that no one will be removed from the voting list for failing to respond to the June 13th letter.
According to the Associated Press, over 1,200 letters were sent to individuals in Antioch, and an additional 645 were sent to the area represented by John Ray Clemmons in South Nashville, as confirmed by the Secretary of State’s Office.
Clemmons demanded an investigation into the selection process of those voters after the initial letter was dispatched. As of Friday, he stated that they have yet to receive a satisfactory explanation.
Clemmons, a Democrat, expressed strong opposition towards the act of non-citizens engaging in illegal voting. He went on to emphasize their sincere legal concerns regarding the letters, pointing out that Mark Goins, the State Coordinator of Elections, intentionally directed state resources towards a particular group of US citizens who are lawfully registered to vote. This was done with the clear intention of intimidating them and/or misrepresenting the voting requirements.
According to Clemmons, the effort to eliminate voters from the registration list is detrimental regardless of its outcome. As per the AP report, over 3,200 individuals have presented proof of their citizenship, while more than 300 have sought to be removed from the voter rolls.