November 12, 2022
By: Dwayne Page
By a 4-1 margin, Tennessee voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure that will remove the last vestiges of legal slavery from the state’s Constitution.
Amendment 3 replaces archaic language that has lingered since just after the Civil War saying “slavery and involuntary servitude” are fit punishments for crime. With 79.5% of the vote, the passage will now be replaced with unequivocal language that says: “slavery and involuntary servitude are forever prohibited in this State.”
The ballot measure was one of four Constitutional amendments before voters this election. All four were approved, but none with a higher margin than the anti-slavery measure.
Voters also embraced Amendment 1, which enshrines “right-to-work” in the state constitution.
Amendment 1 garnered 70% of the vote and swept all 95 counties, despite strong opposition from unions. Proponents have said the measure will guarantee that workers can’t be compelled to join unions or pay union dues. Opponents pointed out that Tennessee since 1947 has had a right to work law measure on its books.
Tennessee voters also approved two other amendments: Amendment 2, which garnered 74.6% of the vote, outlines a line of succession should the governor be temporarily unable to perform the duties of office.
The amendment gives the lieutenant governor the authority to step into the role. Previously, the lieutenant governor would have had to resign from his or her seat before temporarily taking charge.
And voters also approved Amendment 4, repealing a long-disregarded ban on members of the clergy serving in the Tennessee General Assembly. The amendment passed with 63.2% of the vote, but it also garnered the most “no” votes of any of the four constitutional amendments.
All four amendment questions were overwhelmingly approved by DeKalb County voters in the Tuesday election as follows:
Amendment # 1: Yes- 3,272 (71.29%), No-1,318 (28.71%)
Amendment#2: Yes-2,892 (70.35%), No-1,219 (29.65%)
Amendment#3: Yes-3,243 (74.28%), No-1,123 (25.72%)
Amendment#4: Yes-2,752 (64.60%), No-1,508 (35.40%)