Earlier this year, the Tennessee legislature passed HB 2079, which makes it more difficult for a party to remain on the ballot. The old law said that a party was a group that had polled 5% for a statewide race at either of the last two elections. The new law says it is a group that polled 5% for a statewide race at the last election. The bill passed unanimously and was signed into law on April 28, 2016.
The motive for the bill was the Green Party win in the Sixth Circuit of July 2, 2015. The old law said a group that successfully petitioned for party status was then entitled to be on the ballot for one election. The Sixth Circuit had ruled that the law was discriminatory. A new party that successfully petitioned only got one election, but an old party had two elections to meet the vote test.
The flaw in the law could have been fixed in two ways: either the law could have said that a petitioning group is entitled to two elections; or the law could have deprived old parties of the ability to meet the vote test at either of the last two elections. The legislature chose the restrictive solution instead of the liberalizing solution.
States that allow a party to meet the vote test at either of the last two elections, instead of just the last election, are Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.