Concerns over voter registrations loom in Tennessee county

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Concerns about voter registrations and the security of electronic voting machines are looming over the upcoming election in a Tennessee county.

Two lawsuits have been filed in connection with Tuesday’s pivotal election in Shelby County, the largest by population in Tennessee. Election officials in the county that includes Memphis have pushed back against allegations of voter suppression and that they are not doing enough to protect the election process.

A black voters’ group and the NAACP have filed a lawsuit in Chancery Court over thousands of registrations delivered to the Shelby County Election Commission. Election officials said about 55 percent were invalid because they were incomplete, were duplicates from previously registered voters or had come from convicted felons.

Tennessee features a race for governor and a tight U.S. Senate contest.