NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Early voting is underway across Tennessee, and beyond the race for governor, every voter in the state will find three proposed changes to the Tennessee Constitution on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Early voting runs through Wednesday, Oct. 29. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Saturday, Oct. 24, and election officials urge anyone voting by mail to apply as soon as possible. Polling places and hours vary by county.
Amendment 1 deals with bail. Today the constitution guarantees bail except in capital cases. The proposal would allow judges to deny pretrial release outright when someone is charged with a death-penalty offense, terrorism, second degree murder, aggravated rape, aggravated rape of a child, grave torture, or another crime that requires serving at least 85 percent of a sentence. Judges would have to put their reasons for granting or denying bail on the record.
Amendment 2 would write a ban on a state property tax into the constitution. Property would still be taxed locally, but the legislature could not levy or authorize a state-level tax on real, personal or mixed property.
Amendment 3 is Tennessee’s version of Marsy’s Law, a crime victims’ rights measure. It would replace the current victims’ rights section with a longer list, including the right to fair treatment, to take part in parole hearings, to protection from harassment by the accused, to timely restitution, to a speedy resolution of the case and to be told the minimum time an offender will serve. It would be the first Marsy’s Law adopted anywhere in the country since 2020.
All three were referred by the General Assembly, since Tennessee is one of 24 states with no citizen initiative process. Lawmakers must approve an amendment in two consecutive legislative sessions with an election in between before it reaches voters, and amendments only appear in years when Tennessee elects a governor.
The bar to pass is higher than a simple majority. An amendment has to win more yes than no ballots, and its yes count must also top 50 percent of the total turnout in the race for governor. That means a voter who skips an amendment question effectively helps the no side.
Section: More Nashville TN politics news
Filed under: Nashville TN Politics News
