CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The issue of election integrity can be a hot-button issue across the country. So when reports started circulating about cases of illegal voter registration in Montgomery County, NewsChannel 5 wanted to dig into this to make sure you have the most context possible.
Montgomery and Robertson County District Attorney General Robert Nash said he looked over a list of 20 names from the last election in Montgomery County.
Those names were forwarded from the Montgomery County Election Commission, detailing people the commission says either voted in the last election when they shouldn't have or even just registered without actually voting.
It's a list Nash says the election commission sends after each election.
"It's not really anything new," Nash said. "But I understand that the climate as of late about election integrity brings more of a spotlight to this situation."
Nash said while 20 voters is a somewhat larger number than what they usually see, he said it's no reason to believe claims of widespread voter fraud across the country that would change the impact of an election.
"These charges do not have anything to do with the tabulation of votes," Nash said. "it just appears to be individuals who are not qualified to register to vote or to vote."
And in the cases he's looking over, Nash said the vast majority of those not qualified to vote have prior felony convictions.
"That's primarily the main cause of this," Nash said.
Tennessee is second only to Florida when it comes to the number of people with a felony conviction denied the right to vote.
The state said a judge's ruling this summer means someone needs a court order or a full governor's pardon before they can get their voting rights back.
But could these cases be examples of people registering or voting who simply didn't know they couldn't?
"Well that very well may," Nash said. "I can't get into the mind of the individual, whether they knew or didn't know."
Election Results show more than 40,000 people voted in last year's General Election in Montgomery County, as the district attorney says the 20 or so cases of illegal voter registration will make their way through the courts.
