A unanimous three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled Monday that Tennessee must allow first-time voters to vote by absentee ballot.

Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-2-115(b)(7), individuals who register to vote online or by mail must vote in person the first time they vote. Tre Hargett, the Secretary of State of Tennessee, was sued to enjoin him from enforcing the law and to allow first-time voters to have the option to vote absentee. The district court agreed with the plaintiffs and issued a preliminary injunction.

Tennessee appealed to the Sixth Circuit and requested a stay of the injunction. This stay, if granted, would have allowed the continued enforcement of the law notwithstanding the preliminary injunction. In its opinion, the appeals court noted that Tennessee was requesting extraordinary relief: a major change to a voting rule on the eve of the election. The court faulted Tennessee because an injunction was issued on September 9, but Tennessee waited until October 9 to seek a stay of the district court’s injunction.

The judges concluded this could create a series of problems for voters:

During the period between September 9, the day of issuance of the preliminary injunction, and October 15, the day plaintiffs’ response was filed, both absentee voting and early in-person voting had begun in Tennessee. Plaintiffs have been working in their communities to inform their members and the general public about the district court’s preliminary injunction; collectively, they have spoken to over 1,500 voters at union meetings, virtual town halls, and voter-registration events. On Tennessee’s official government webpage about absentee voting, the defendants themselves prominently state that “[p]ursuant to the September 9, 2020 Order of the U.S. District Court, first-time voters are not required to vote in-person if they meet a legal reason to vote by-mail.”

Tennessee now has the option of requesting a stay from the US Supreme Court.