On June 4, 2021, Horwitz Law, PLLC filed an amici curiae brief on behalf of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the election advocacy group Tennesseans for Sensible Election Laws in Metropolitan Government, et al. v. Davidson County Election Commission, et al., Davidson County Chancery Court Case No. 21-0433-IV.  Chancellor Russell T. Perkins entered an order accepting the brief on June 7, 2021.

The organizations’ brief asserts that the Davidson County Election Commission acted unlawfully by approving a multi-date referendum petition despite the Metro Charter’s unambiguous requirement that petitioners “prescribe a date” for an election in order to afford appropriate notice to voters.  The brief also contends that the Election Commission acted unlawfully and exceeded its jurisdiction by setting the referendum election at issue for an entirely separate third date.  Significantly, until now, the Election Commission has long maintained that the Metro Charter’s “prescribe a date” requirement forbids the Election Commission from altering the election date selected by petitioners, making its actions a significant departure from its own longstanding, established practice.

“Both organizations are concerned with the Davidson County Election Commission’s seemingly partisan-motivated, selective interpretations and abrupt change in position regarding long-established rules,” said attorney Daniel A. Horwitz—who filed the brief along with Horwitz Law, PLLC attorney Lindsay Smith—in a statement to the Tennessean.  “The Election Commission’s position also ensures a constant stream of expedited, pre-election litigation, and it creates serious concerns that going forward, partisanship will dictate outcomes regarding what is supposed to be the neutral process of election administration.”

Read the Brief of Amici Curiae of Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and Tennesseans for Sensible Election Laws in Support of Petitioner here: https://horwitz.law/wp-content/uploads/Brief-of-Amici-Curiae-the-Chamber-and-TSEL.pdf