Opinion ID: 774302
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Analysis of the Early Voting Statutes under Foster

Text: 52 On appeal the plaintiffs contend that the casting of ballots by the electorate at large (that is, the electorate's collective marking and depositing of ballots with election officials) satisfies the Foster definition. The plaintiffs assert that the TEVS conflict with federal law by allowing voters to participate in the final selection of officeholders prior to federal election day by marking a ballot and tendering it to a local election official. Because this argument overlooks the Supreme Court's silence in Foster as to which acts a State must take on federal election day and not earlier, Foster, 522 U.S. at 72, we disagree. Although the plaintiffs maintain that the receipt of ballots prior to federal election day by election officials constitutes sufficient combined action of voters and officials to violate federal law, final selection of an officeholder requires more than mere receipt of ballots cast by voters. For example, on election day officials must close and secure the polls, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 2-7-128 to -130, -134, -137 to -138, count the ballots, id. §§ 2-7-131, -133, complete and certify official tally sheets, id. § 2-7-132, and publicly announce the results. Id. § 2-7-136. 5 With so many administrative actions necessary under Tennessee law to finalize the voters' preference for a candidate, the plaintiffs' focus on the single act of receiving a ballot from a voter presents an unnatural and stilted conception of the actions taken by officials under Tennessee's election laws and loses sight of the fact that an official's mere receipt of a ballot without more is not an act meant to make a final selection. 53 In fact, Foster's narrow holding suggests that, so long as a State does not conclude an election prior to federal election day, the State's law will not actually conflict with federal law. Foster, 522 U.S. at 72 & n.4. To support their position, the plaintiffs finely parse Foster's language and characterize the Supreme Court as drawing a distinction between the actions that must take place on federal election day to constitute an election and the final act of selection of an officeholder, which can occur after federal election day if one of the exceptions in 2 U.S.C. § 8 applies. In light of the Court's express disavowal in Foster that it was establishing any particular actions a State must perform on election day to comply with the federal statutes, this reading simply asks too much. Although the plaintiffs raise the specter of States scheduling voting to occur at times entirely removed from federal election day and simply counting ballots on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, ostensibly complying with Foster while in fact manipulating federal elections, this case does not present such a scenario. Tennessee's statute requires substantial official action on the congressionally prescribed day, and considerable voting continues to take place on election day itself. Further, Tennessee has drafted its election code around federal election day. See, e.g., Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-5-101 (calculating deadlines for qualifying for placement of a candidate's name on the ballot by reference to federal election day); § 2-6-102(a)(1) (allowing early voters to cast ballots before the day of the election).