Nashville state lawmaker sues city, election commission over opponent's qualification

Tennessee Rep. Bo Mitchell sued Metro Nashville and the Davidson County Election Commission on Wednesday over allegations the commission violated state law when it certified the candidacy of his Republican opponent, Metro Council member Jennifer Frensley Webb.

Mitchell, D-Nashville, earlier this year challenged five signatures on Webb's nominating petition, the document candidates are required to collect 25 voter signatures on to validate their candidacy.

The lawsuit, filed in Chancery Court, argues Mitchell would be forced to spend tens of thousands in campaign funds for a House District 50 race "to defeat a candidate in the general election who didn’t qualify as a candidate for election as required by applicable law."

The commission heard Mitchell's challenge after another challenge against Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, in early May during a marathon meeting that grew chaotic at times.

Read more: Rep. Justin Jones can remain on 2024 ballot, Davidson County Election Commission rules

The commission is tasked with verifying that the signatures on a petition are legitimate voters in the candidate's district. While residency status can be objectively proven, questions over various signatures often came down to handwriting style or other subjective standards. Mitchell brought in a handwriting expert to help bolster his case, whose credentials were repeatedly questioned by commission chairman Jim DeLanis.

Webb at one point admitted one man who signed her petition also signed the name of his son, who is currently serving in the military and wasn't in the state at the time of the signing. The father, who was present at the commission meeting, also admitted to doing so, despite having no legal power of attorney to sign on behalf of his son.

Tennessee's candidate nominating position states that knowingly making a "false entry" on an election document is a class D felony. The statement is printed under the candidate's signature, while the petition later reiterates a person cannot sign for another.

"We sit in the General Assembly all the time and listen to the majority party talk about election integrity and things that go wrong in elections," Mitchell said, noting the felony designation for false entries. "If we're going to have election integrity, let's have election integrity."

The son's signature was excluded, but the commission ultimately sided with Webb, declining to strike several other signatures after allowing, among other evidence, a FaceTime call with another signatory who testified he had signed the petition. The commission had previously allowed FaceTime testimony in the Jones challenge.

Mitchell argues in the lawsuit that state law only allows the commission to consider the signature on the petition and compare it to the signer's voter registration card — any other evidence submitted amounted to an "illegal" process.

"The Commission’s hearing was a farcical display of incompetence, lacking in legitimate procedure, and riddled with flaws now common to Davidson County taxpayers under the leadership of its Chairman, Jim DeLanis," Mitchell's lawsuit states.

The Tennessean has reached out to the commission and Metro legal for further comment.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Rep. Bo Mitchell sues Nashville over qualification of his GOP opponent