Governor Bill Lee said an expansion of mail-in ballots for the 2020 elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to fraud.
A lawsuit is currently attempting to allow anyone afraid of contracting COVID-19 at a polling place the ability to request a mail-in ballot.
Current state laws allow mail-in ballots for the elderly, those who are ill and those who are disabled. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery said fear of contracting COVID-19 is not a valid excuse.
“Fundamentally, I don’t believe that we ought to have absentee voting with no excuse because it opens up opportunities for fraud,” Lee said.