In 2008, the Tennessee legislature passed a law, requiring that all vote-counting machines must have a paper trail, starting in 2010. Currently, 93 of the 95 counties use electronic vote-counting machines that do not provide a paper trail.

According to this story, the Tennessee Senate will vote on January 12 on a bill to repeal the 2008 requirement. The bill number is unknown, but it is apparently sponsored by State Senator Ron Ramsey. Because Senator Ramsey is also Senate Speaker, he is referred to in the article as Tennessee’s Lieutenant Governor. Tennessee doesn’t have an elected Lieutenant Governor, and its Constitution says that if the governor dies or resigns, the Senate Speaker becomes Governor. Senator Ramsey is a Republican from eastern Tennessee. UPDATE: the Senate did pass the bill on January 12. Now it goes to the House. See this updated story. FURTHER UPDATE: the bill is now through the legislature (the House had passed the bill late in 2009, and Tennessee has two-year legislative sessions).