NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s attorney general says a new state law that only applies to one county’s election recall abilities raises constitutional concerns.
In an opinion last week, Attorney General Herbert Slatery wrote that single-county state laws raise potential concerns under three sections of the Tennessee Constitution.
The law passed this year allows a county’s registered voters to petition for an election to recall a local school board member. But it was limited to apply to counties with populations ranging from 98,200 to 98,300, so only Madison County would be affected.
Slatery’s opinion says there’s no readily apparent rational basis for the distinction. He wrote that another potential issue is that the law doesn’t provide for local approval.
Democratic Sen. Raumesh Akbari requested the opinion.
The Jackson Madison County NAACP released a statement saying “The Jackson Madison County NAACP agrees with the state of Tennessee Attorney General’s opinion that the recall petition regarding Jackson-Madison County School Board Members Doris Black and Kelvin Alexander has serious constitutional issues…This form of reckless legislation only hurts the due process of our elections, and the integrity of our system of justice.”
(Photo: Herbert Slatery)
