The convoluted situation raises the possibility of creating confusion in the election system during an election year unless the courts or the Legislature can resolve it in reasonably short order.
 
Resolution of the dispute - at least outside the political arena - could also boil down to whether a court ruling comes before legislative action.
 
In the Legislature, Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said last week he plans to seek a Senate floor vote on the issue on the opening day of the legislative session in January. A judge may, or may not, have ruled by then and, if so, appeals could follow.
 
The lawsuit, filed last week by Common Cause of Tennessee, asks that a Davidson County Chancery Court judge force Secretary of State Tre Hargett and other officials to promptly authorize purchase of new "optical scan" voting machines that produce a paper trail. About $35 million in federal funds is available to pay for the machines.
 
The optical scan machines are mandated to be in place statewide for the 2010 elections by the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act, enacted by the General Assembly in 2008 with broad, bipartisan support.