U.S. Senate candidate Robin Kimbrough Hayes is urging Gov. Bill Lee and Mark Goins, state election coordinator, to reconsider their decision to prevent expanded vote by mail.

“It is unfortunate that, during the national centennial of women winning the right to vote thanks to Tennessee, our governor and state elections coordinator are preventing expanded vote by mail,” said Kimbrough Hayes, a Democratic candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat <robinforsenate.com>. “This is what democracy is about: the right to vote. One would think they should be celebrating having more people vote. We need to ask why they don’t want more people voting?

“We should not force voters to choose between their constitutional right to vote and their health. COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. Voters should be outraged that our governor and state election coordinator are trying to suppress the vote.”

The recent Wisconsin primary election resulted in an increased number of COVID-19 cases from people standing in line to vote. The Tennessee Democratic primary will be held on Thursday, August 6. Even though early voting will occur two weeks prior to the primary, Kimbrough Hayes said the state should be mailing pre-stamped ballots to all voters in case they don’t want to stand in line amid possible coronavirus exposure.