Shelby County chancellor aims at early voting compromise with modified order

Ryan Poe | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Show Caption Hide Caption 2018 August Election Preview Primaries and general elections are on the August 2, 2018 ballot

Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins on Tuesday ordered all 27 early voting sites to open on July 17, compromising with Election Commission officials who said opening the sites any earlier was "damn near impossible."

Jenkins' order modified a previous ruling Monday that would have required all sites to open on Monday, July 16, two days earlier than the commission had planned. Unlike Tuesday, Jenkins' order was a resounding win for the plaintiffs, the NAACP Memphis Branch and local Democrats, which filed separate lawsuits that were then combined.

The plaintiffs had argued that the Election Commission's original plan to open three sites — in Germantown, East Memphis and Whitehaven — for the first four days of early voting, July 13-17, would have suppressed voting in predominantly black communities. Instead, the plaintiffs asked that all sites open Monday, July 16, and that Jenkins add two more sites in Midtown and Frayser on Friday and Saturday, July 13-14. The Election Commission had originally planned to open all of the sites on Wednesday, July 18.

Corey Strong Shelby County Democratic Party chairman Corey Strong speaks during a press conference.

Jenkins' modified order still requires the Election Commission to add two voting sites in under-served areas during the first three days of early voting July 13-16 (polls are closed Sundays). The new "head-start" sites will be Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Midtown, and either the Ed Rice or Dave Wells community centers in Frayser.

As already planned, the commission will also open head-start sites at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Germantown, at Abundant Grace Fellowship Church in Whitehaven, and at the commission operations center at 980 Nixon in East Memphis.

Jenkins modified his order after Elections Administrator Linda Phiillips protested that opening all sites two days early was "damn near impossible." The commission will need to rent additional trucks to move voting machines, train some 400 staff members earlier than expected, secure site approvals and republish early voting notices, staff said.

"We told the chancellor we thought we could meet that deadline of the 17th," Election Commission chairman Robert Meyers said after the hearing Tuesday afternoon. "It'll still be difficult, but we believe it's achievable."

Asked if he wanted to say anything else about the compromise, Meyers replied, "Not while I'm this tired." Jenkins' ruling Monday followed more than seven grueling hours of arguments and testimony, much of it from Meyers.

As Jenkins handed down his order Monday, he said the Election Commission's plan to open sites in East Memphis, Germantown and Whitehaven amounted to voter "suppression" and would have a "chilling effect" on voters in other areas.

"There seems to be a difference in how these two people were being treated in response to polling opportunities," he said, a reference to the racial divide.

In the past, the commission typically opened just one head-start location, at its Downtown office, which was unavailable this year due to its relocation. An exception was this spring, when the commission opened all early voting sites at the same time. The commission voted June 26 to make Agricenter International in East Memphis the sole voting site, but revised the plan June 29 to open the three head-start sites.

The Election Commission, represented by attorney John Ryder, argued that having three sites rather than one was an improvement on the past, and made head-start voting easier, not harder.

Jenkins also agreed with the Democratic plaintiffs, represented by attorney and former House District 95 Democratic candidate Julie Byrd Ashworth, that the Election Commission may have violated the Open Meetings Act, although he didn't specify how.

The named plaintiffs in the Democrats' lawsuit were party chairman Corey Strong and former City Council member Myron Lowery.

Meyers said he asked Phillips to research whether the commission should make changes to early voting sites in January or February, but the public wasn't made aware of the impending changes until the commission's June 26 meeting. Although Jenkins said the commission violated the "spirit" of the law, the open meetings law doesn't forbid a commissioner from making requests of staff members.

Monday, Meyers said the Election Commission would appeal Jenkins' ruling, but he said he wasn't sure after the modification Tuesday.

Reach Ryan Poe at poe@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @ryanpoe.