At a press conference held jointly Tuesday with Shelby County Democratic chairman Van Turner, 9th district congressman Steve Cohen called attention to what he said were “disturbing” indications that Shelby County voters may have have been given “intentional” misinformation in an effort to dissuade them from voting.
Speaking to reporters at his Union Avenue campaign headquarters, the congressman was following up on comments made by Turner concerning anecdotal reports that people on a list of “inactive” but eligible voters prepared by the Shelby County Election Commission may have been told by poll workers that they were not allowed to vote. The SCEC had previously released a voter list divided into “active” or “inactive” categories, the latter consisting of voters who may not have voted recently but whose credentials to do so were still in order.
Turner had also expressed concern that, as was the case during the August round of voting, voters appeared to have been given ballots inappropriate to their precinct locations.
Cohen said there was “no good reason” in a computerized age to even have an “inactive” list. “People should remain, once they’ve registered, on the active list,” he said.
Cohen said, “This all started with Photo-IDs. Now we come to election day and the inability of the bureaucracy to properly work. I think it’s intentional.” The congressman said the public should be actively involved in monitoring the membership of the Election Commission.
Former Democratic chairman David Cocke also took part in the press conference and made a point of noting that Photo IDs were still available on election day at the city ‘s library system. These cards were originally disqualified by state election officials as not satisfying the requirements of the 2011 Photo-ID law, but the Tennessee Supreme Court, just last week, ordered the cards to be honored for this election.
