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October 27, 2022

State Constitutional Amendments: Each Election is More Than Just a Vote for Candidates

For the past ten months I have written about real estate trends and local market reports. I have been encouraged and thanked by many who have shared how much they have enjoyed the content each week. This week I decided I would venture into the topic of our upcoming election. If you are a Tennessee voter like me, you may have just recently heard about a few unexpected topics that voters will be deciding on November 8 and because nothing is more important than being an informed voter, I wanted to draw your attention to these topics.

State and Federal Elections will take place on Tuesday, November 8, with Early Voting currently underway until Thursday, November 3. Tennessee voters can keep up to date with the most accurate polling locations and hours information on GoVoteTN.gov. Candidates are making their last push with events and mailers over the next week or so, but there is more on the ballot than candidates that you should be aware of.

There are four proposed Tennessee State Constitutional Amendments that voters will have the opportunity to vote up or down. Amending the State Constitution is a big deal and should not be taken lightly. The most important part of any Amendment is to understand its implications. If you don’t understand it, please get informed. If you don’t have time to get informed, then you should simply not vote for the Amendment – skip over it. If there is one thing we should approach carefully and cautiously it is making any changes to constitutional or historical doctrine. We should also ask ourselves what are we trying to correct and what are the unforeseen ramifications for the future. Herein are the four Tennessee Constitutional Amendments that I found via an online source, Ballotpedia. There are many others and I encourage you to seek as many as you need until you feel you fully understand the proposed changes.

1. Constitutional Amendment 1 – For 75 years “The Right to Work” has been law in our State Constitution. This amendment would add a new section to article XI of the Tennessee Constitution to make it illegal for any person, corporation, association, or the State of Tennessee or its political subdivisions to deny or attempt to deny employment to any person because of the person’s membership in, affiliation with, resignation from, or refusal to join or affiliate with any labor union or employee organization

Not to be confused with the Employment-at-Will Act which outlines that Employers may legally terminate an employee at any time for any reason, or for no reason without incurring legal liability.  However, an employer may not discriminate against any employee on the basis of the employee's race, sex, age, religion, color, national origin, or disability. Likewise, an employee is free to leave a job at any time for any or no reason with no adverse legal consequences. There are a few exceptions, but they mostly have to do with penalties related to service in jury duty, the military, or workman’s compensation claims.

2. Constitutional Amendment 2 would provide for an acting governor when the elected governor is unable to fulfill the duties of the office. The speaker of the Senate, who also serves as the Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee, would serve as acting governor. The acting governor would perform the duties of the office until the governor provides a written, signed declaration saying they can perform the office's powers and duties again. The ballot measure would also allow a majority of the commissioners of administrative departments of the Executive Department to submit a written, signed declaration stating that the governor is unable to perform their powers and duties, thereby allowing for an acting governor until the governor provides a written, signed declaration saying they can perform the office's powers and duties.

Article III – Section 12 of the current State Constitution outlines the succession plan already in place if the Governor dies but does not currently provide a process for the governor to be temporarily relieved of his power and duties.

3. Constitutional Amendment 3 would remove language from the Tennessee Constitution that allows the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments. The ballot measure would replace the language with the statement, "Slavery and involuntary servitude are forever prohibited." The ballot measure would also state that the language does not prohibit an inmate from being forced to work when the inmate has been duly convicted of a crime.

Tennessee’s Constitution has expressly prohibited slavery since it was first adopted 1870, so the amending of historical language is more about its removal than a change of current practices.

4. Constitutional Amendment 4 would repeal Section 1 of Article IX of the Tennessee Constitution, which says that religious ministers are disqualified from being elected to the state General Assembly. In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that forbidding religious ministers from public office was unconstitutional. Due to the McDaniel v. Paty, the constitutional language is not enforced.

This change is an opportunity for an Amendment to “clean up” language that is unenforceable.

As I stated earlier, change is being proposed to us daily. What we must do is to become empowered and informed to ensure that any proposed change(s) does not open or cause future proposals to erode our values and liberty as citizens. I hope this snapshot into the four proposed Amendments to our Tennessee State Constitution benefits you as you prepare to cast your vote.

As Realtors®, we are bound by our Code of Ethics to serve the housing needs of those around us, and our local elections are crucial to ensure that our communities are strong and vibrant. All throughout the year, be assured that  Realtors will help not only in the homebuying process, but remain active participants in making where we live a better place. That’s Who We R®.