Votes For TN Amendments, Governor Linked But Voters Not Required To Vote For Both
The Center Square [By Jon Styf]-
You don’t have to vote for Tennessee’s next governor to vote for the four constitutional amendments in the Nov. 8 election.
And you don’t have to vote on the constitutional amendments to vote for governor. But the two votes are inextricably linked.
That’s because constitutional amendments need to clear two hurdles to pass.
The first is to receive more than 50% of the vote on each amendment. The second is to receive more than 50% of the total number of votes for governor.
The two numbers can be different because not all voters vote for everything on the ballot.
The specifics of the constitutional requirements come from a 2018 Tennessee Supreme Court ruling related to a 2014 constitutional amendment related to abortion, stating that nothing in the constitution protects abortion or requires it to be funded.
In that case, more voters voted on the amendment than voted for governor and the result of the vote was challenged in court.
The court then ruled that the number of votes for governor must be added up and divided by two, with an amendment being required to receive more votes than that number to pass.
“Despite the fact that the number of votes cast for governor is used to determine the outcome, it is not necessary to vote in the governor’s race in order to vote on the Constitutional amendments,” Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said in a statement. “Likewise, it is not necessary to vote for an amendment in order to vote in the governor’s race.”
The four constitutional amendments on this year’s ballot include a right-to-work amendment, a gubernatorial succession plan, a ban on indentured servitude for those incarcerated, and the end of a law that prevents ministers from being elected to public office.
The rule regarding ministers and the right-to-work amendment are already followed in the state but the amendments would formalize those stances.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
I guess I would have to read each amendment to decide on them.
On the right to work. NO union should force people to pay dues. All unions do is give free money to democrats to take their jobs away. Just like They help Biden put them all out of work. Keep this state a right to work and REMOVE ALL UNIONS FROM TENNESSEE.
On the rest there is nothing here to read on them so I will have to see where I can read them