Sen. Dickerson Ignores Effort to Expand On-Site Voting for Senior Citizens, Disabled

A measure to expand on-site voting access to elderly and disabled Tennesseans living in certain institutional homes failed Feb. 26 in a Senate committee.

Senate Bill 0192, sponsored by Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, District 33, would have expanded a popular voting program that facilitates on-site voting at licensed nursing homes to include “institutions designated for elderly or disabled persons.” 

To be included, the institution serving elderly and disabled Tennesseans must have “qualified staff that regularly assess residents and attest that the population consists of persons of which at least 35 percent are frail” by the federal definition. 

Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, District 21, motioned to hear the bill in the Senate State and Local Government Committee, but the measure died when all eight Republican members of the panel ignored the motion. 

Who blocked the bill:
Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville
Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville
Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga
Sen. Ed Jackson, R-Jackson
Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown
Sen. Dawn White, R-Murfreesboro
Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston
Sen. Shane Reeves, R-Murfreesboro