Speakers: Howard Gentry, Criminal Court Clerk for Davidson County, and Jim Shulman, Vice-mayor for Nashville.
Gentry and Shulman addressed restoration of voting rights in Tennessee. Tennessee ranks near the bottom in voter turnout and registration. Nearly 10% of Tennessee’s eligible voting population are disenfranchised due to a past criminal conviction, and many of those have served their sentences and parole.
The speakers offered an informative colloquy regarding the complicated process of restoring voting rights in Tennessee. Locally, Gentry has worked to make the process easier, resulting in a steady increase in the number of restored voting rights in Davidson County. Unfortunately, this process is not as well honed in other Tennessee counties. In the audience for this Hot Topic was Kathy Greenberg from the Tennessee League’s Voter Restoration Project. She commended the work done in Davidson County, and urged our members to follow her project.
Information is available at VOTER RESTORATION