Gino Bulso State Representative 61° Legisatve District one ee House of Representatives Se onates TN 57243 State of Tennessee Office: (615) 741-6808 ext. 44451 NASHVILLE ep Gino Bulso@capitolin.gov District Office: 155 Franklin Fd, Suite 400 Brentwood, TH 37027 ‘COMMITTEES: Civil Justice Government Operations cation 6 November 2023 Via Electronic and First-Class Mail Commissioner Donna Barrett Commissioner Judy Blackburn Commissioner Jimmy Eldridge Commissioner Kent Younce ‘Tennessee State Election Commission Division of Elections 312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue 7th Floor, Snodgrass Tower Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0309 Re: Vacancy on Williamson County Election Commission November 9, 2023, Meeting of the State Election Commission ‘To the Republican Members of the State Election Commission: ‘The undersigned (Sen. Joey Hensley, Rep. Todd Warner, and Rep. Gino Bulso) represent 50% of the legislative delegation of Williamson County, Tennessee. We write to urge the Republican Members of the State Election Commission to appoint Patrick Benitez on November 9, 2023, to fill the existing vacancy on the Williamson County Election Commission.! Mr. Benitez, a resident of Thompson’s Station and a constituent of both Sen Hensley and Rep. Warner, is an unusually well-qualified candidate for the Williamson County Election Commission. The son of Cuban immigrants who fled the communism of the Castro regime in the 1970s, Mr. Benitez grew up in Miami, Florida. He is 39 years old. Like many families from Cuba, his family is very patriotic 1 Tenn, Code Ann. § 2-12-103(b)(4) specifies that “[blefore appointing county election commissioners, the members of the state election commission shall consult with the members of the general assembly serving each of the counties as to the persons to be appointed to the county election commission,” Section 2-12-103(b)(1) provides, “The members of the majority party on the state election commission shall appoint the persons who are required to be members of that party on county election commissions.”State Election Commission November 6, 2023 Page 2 and very conservative. Mr. Benitez is bilingual, having fluency in both English (his first language) and Spanish. He started his professional career in a clinical field (nursing) and transitioned into computer programming and systems management. He is one of those rare individuals who can write computer code, who understands relational and SQL databases, and who develops software In this era of electronic voting where artificial intelligence continues to develop at an exponential rate, the value of Mr. Benitez's background, education, and experience in the information technology field to the local election commission is unmistakable. Mr. Benitez has a set of skills that would serve the residents of Williamson County exceedingly well. He would bring an expertise and technical competence to our county election commission that no member of that commission currently possesses. Despite his obvious qualifications for this position, Commissioner Barrett opposes his appointment. When we recommended his appointment to Commission Barrett on April 3, 2023, of this year (see Exhibit 1 hereto), she disregarded the recommendation and instead supported the reappointment of the existing three Republican members of the county commission. When the current vacancy on the county commission arose pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-1-112(a)(1),2 we again recommended to Commissioner Barrett that the State Election Commission appoint Patrick Benitez—an inarguably well-qualified candidate who has sought to serve our community on the Williamson County Election Commission—to fill the vacancy, Rather than support Mr. Benitez’ appointment, and in the absence of any other candidate seeking the position, Commission Barrett instead solicited another Williamson County resident, Edward Douglas Grindstaff, to agree to fill the vacancy. Mr. Grindstaff has during his 83 years served the Williamson County Republican Party well, but he lacks the technical and linguistic skills that Mr. Benitez is able to bring to this position? Despite his obvious (and unique) qualifications for this position, Commissioner Barrett opposes Mr. Benitez's appointment because he is among those constituents 2 We understand that Commissioner Robert D. Brown has accepted employment that renders him ineligible to continue to serve on the county election commission. See Section 2-1- 112(a)(1)("An...employee of a municipal, county, state, or federal governmental body or agency shalll not serve as a member of a county election commission.’ °'The graph attached as Exhibit 2 illustrates the explosive growth of the Hispanic and Latino in Williamson County from 2010 to the date of the latest U. S. Census. Mr. Benitez's fluency in Spanish would particularly be an asset to our Hispanic and Latino communities should he be appointed.State Election Commission November 6, 2023 Page 3 in Williamson County who have concerns regarding election security and who prefer a more traditional approach to voting. Notably, this perspective is not currently represented on our county election commission. Although we understand the deference that the State Election Commission would ordinarily give to Commissioner Barrett's recommendation, where, as here, that recommendation is part of an effort to silence a perspective that (a) many of our constituents share and (b) is wholly unrepresented at present on the Williamson County Election Commission, no such deference is appropriate. Rather, despite Commissioner Barrett's opposition, the State Election Commission should appoint the obviously more qualified candidate (Mr. Benitez) to fill the current vacancy. Our elections must not only be free, fair, and secure, but must also be perceived as such. Should the State Election Commission accept Commissioner Barrett's recommendation and reject Mr. Benitez, it will not only be rejecting the more qualified candidate but will also sow seeds of distrust. among some of our constituents in the electoral process. This is so because there can be no mistaking the fact that a rejection of Mr. Benitez is transparently an effort to eliminate from the local election commission a meaningful but unrepresented perspective regarding the fairness and security of our elections. For all the foregoing reasons, we urge the State Election Commission at its meeting on November 9, 2023, to appoint Patrick Benitez to the open seat on the Williamson County Election Commission. Although the recommendation of the members of the General Assembly who serve Williamson County does not bind the State Election Commission (see Tenn. Op. Atty. Gen. No. 05-049, 2005 WL 998617), we will continue to work to ensure that the reasonable perspectives of our constituents are adequately represented in the electoral process ‘Thank you very much for your consideration of the foregoing information. Respectfully, GRU Gino Bulso State Representative, District 61 Gato Todd Warner, State Representative, District 92State Election Commission November 6, 2023 Page 4 vy Hea, by Joey Hensley State Senator, District 28 ce: Senator Jack Johnson Rep. Sam Whitson Rep. Jake McCalmon ‘Tre Hargett, Tennessee Secretary of State Mark Goins, Tennessee Coordinator of Elections