Rep. Cooper Announces Major Early Voting Initiative

By Dulce Torres Guzman, Tennessee Lookout

October 7, 2020

In what a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, says may be the first of its kind nationally, Cooper is urging local voters to head to the polls early with 14 days of themed voting events featuring community groups and celebrities.

Cooper has long been a proponent of voting rights and VoteEarlyTN is the latest effort to encourage Nashvillians to vote early and reduce exposure to COVID-19 on Election Day.

More than 200 businesses and affinity groups have been educating their constituents and followers about the importance of early voting, absentee voting rules and casting their ballots in November.

Tennessee ranks 49th in the country in voter turnout numbers, according to ThinkTennessee, a non-partisan think tank that focuses on civic engagement, and 45th in the country in voter registration.

Complicating elections in 2020 has been the impact of COVID-19 and in Tennessee, legal back and forth over the use of absentee ballots.

Tennessee absentee voting law says that anyone over the age of 60 is eligible to receive an absentee ballot. A voter who is either susceptible to COVID-19 or the caretaker of someone with underlying conditions who is susceptible is also eligible. A full list of conditions qualifying one for absentee voting can be found here.

Celebrities participating include singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, T. Bone Burnett, Ruby Amanfu, Lucinda Williams, Margo Price and Old Crow Medicine Show.

For more information on VoteEarlyTN, to sign up or to learn more about voting in Tennessee, visit https://bit.ly/VoteEarlyTN.

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