Tennessee won't purge voter rolls of people who disregard a letter asking them to prove citizenship

Tennessee elections officials say any state registered voters among the thousands recently asked to prove their citizenship can stay on the voting rolls even if they don't respond to the request. The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee said last month it planned to sue the state over the requests for proof of citizenship. The ACLU had urged the state to send a second letter to people clarifying they wouldn’t lose their voter registration for ignoring the request about citizenship. The state's original correspondence didn't say what would happen if people didn't respond. An attorney representing Tennessee election officials on Tuesday said the state’s original letters didn’t threaten to remove anyone from the voter rolls and didn't violate federal law.