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NASHVILLE — Tennesseans vote this fall on four proposed amendments to the Tennessee Constitution — on abortion, an income tax, judicial selection and charitable gambling. It’s the most on the same Tennessee ballot since 1978, when 13 changes to the state constitution were up for ratification.
The constitutional referendums are set for the Nov. 4 general election ballot, nearly five months away, but Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett has posted the four amendments on the his state website for voters to begin reviewing and considering. Advertising campaigns for and against some of the amendments have already begun and will heat up as the referendums draw closer.
“Although these amendments will not appear on the ballot until November, voters are starting to debate their merits,” Hargett said. “Now these amendments are readily accessible on our website to give people the opportunity to learn about them so they can make well-informed decisions at the ballot box.”
Amendment 1 nullifies a Tennessee Supreme Court ruling in 2000 that said the state constitution provides abortion rights. The amendment specifies that the constitution neither “secures or protects a right to abortion...,” and allows the state