Posted on 09/22/2014 10:30:04 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Tennesseeans, this is what I wrote for my fellow parishioners, making the case that we ought to consider leaving the GOVERNOR line blank, and just voting Pro-Life YesOn1.
Your comments, please?
I personally am convinced that the governor's election means nada, since Haslam is going to win unless Christ comes again, or a supercaldera blows somewhere to the West of Memphis and destroys our beloved RockyTop altogether.
So the best thing we can do --- owing to math generated by the "dual majority" or "supermajority" mechanism of amending the Constitution --- is to skip the governor race and boost Proposition 1.
Amirite? Let me know.
YesOn1: Moral, Political, Tactical Thoughts
Did you know that Amendment One could (theoretically) get 100% “YES” votes , 0% “NO” votes, and still not pass?
Amending the TN Constitution requires, not just a simple majority, but a "dual majority," That means that it’s not enough for the proposed amendment to get more “Yes” than “No” votes. To pass, an amendment must get a majority based on the total ballots cast for the governor of the state. Anyone who votes for the governor but simply skips voting on the Amendment, is casting an automatic “NO” vote against the Amendment.
Consider a theoretical situation: say the total number of ballots cast in the governor’s race (for all candidates combined) , is 2,000,000. And say the total number of ballots cast on the Amendment (“YES” and “NO” votes combined) is just 200,000. Even if the vote for the amendment were unanimous -- if all 200,000 ballots cast were “Yes” votes --- the amendment would fail.
Why? Because the number of votes needed to pass would not be 100,001,--- a hundred thousand and one; It would be 1,000,001 -- a million and one --- a majority of the total ballots cast in the governor’s race.
So: more vote are cast for governor, the higher the bar is set: the higher the number an amendment is required to get in order to pass. And the less total votes there are for governor, the less the total votes an amendment is required to get.
That leads to a purely tactical question: wouldn’t it help the Amendment if a lot of people voted YES on the Amendment, and didn’t vote for governor at all? In other words, if Amendment supporters cast their vote on Amendment, but skipped the governor’s line on the ballot altogether?
From an ethical point of view: is this moral? Strictly speaking it’s not a moral question at all, but a tactical one: but yes, it’s morally allowable, because it ‘ s not morally obligatory to vote for governor. (That’s exactly the kind of purely political-tactical question the Church, for instance, cannot rule on, one way or the other.)
Is it legal? Again, this is a political, not a moral question, but the answer is yes: of course it’s legal. Voting on the governor line, one way or the other, is not morally obligatory.
So should you skip voting for governor, in order to lower the bar and make it easier to pass the YesOn1 Pro-Life Amendment? It’s strictly up to your judgment as a voter and citizen.
The best advice is to study exactly how a “dual majority” vote works, evaluate other factors, policies and platforms as much as you can or must, and then cast your ballot by your own best judgment to get the best results for the Sanctity of Life in Tennessee.
It has to do with a strategy to pass a Proposition under the complex supermajority requirement of the TN Constitution.
The problem with any anti-abortion law is that some judge seems to pop up out of nowhere and prevent it from going into effect.
It's the number of votes cast for governor.
This has/is being discussed on the Tennessee forum. As odd as it seems, not voting for governor and voting on the amendments seems appropriate.
Excellent explanation.
That's just what people aren't getting.
That means, in the concurrent election.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.
Basically, the TN Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the TN Constitution had a stronger provision for "privacy" than the US Constitution does. (Notwithstanding the fact that neither one of them has any provision for "privacy" at all.) Therefore, since the TN invisible privacy clause is stronger than the USA invisible privacy clause, TN does not have a right to restrict abortion in any way that actually restricts abortion.
IOW, The TN Supreme Court is saying that the TN Constitution, as it stands, as passed in 1870, eighteen-seventy, secures an absolute right to abortion.
So the purpose of YesOn1 is to restore the neutrality of the TN Constitution on abortion. Neither securing nor denying a right to abortion.
It is worded in a convoluted lawyerly way, to preemptively fend off legal challenges. That's all well and good, except that it's all complex and subtle and does not LOOK like a pro-life amendment.
I am amazed and appalled at how many conservative, prolife Tennesseans Do. Not. Have. A. Clue. :o(
Thats' what makes me scared for the Amendment.
After reading DannyTN’s post I will leave the governor spot blank. While better than a democrat(somewhat)Haslan will win without my vote.
Knowing that Tennessee usually goes for the Republican vote in recent years, I’m always open to “send a message’ to the quivering party moderates that Tennessee has a large conservative base to deal with.
And I stand with the Pro Life side!
I’m in!
Weeks ago I had been leaning toward writing in Joe Carr for guv (I know, purely symbolic, lol) but after studying the wording of the Constitution I decided to skip over the Governor line on the ballot so as to maximize my impact on the amendments.
Cross your fingers (and pray).
In this instance, even if Haslam was a great conservative hero, since he will win re-election, the best pro-life vote is a non-vote for him and a yes on Amendment 1. Thus, increasing the Amendment 1 yes votes without raising the floor of votes required.
It's daggone complicated, but this is it in a nutshell:
If you VOTE for Governor and DON'T vote for YesOn1 = voting NO on the Amendment.
If you VOTE for Governor and AND VOTE vote for the Amendments = voting 1/2 yes and 1/2 no on YesOn1(Your governor vote neutralized your Amendment vote!!)
If you DON'T vote for governor, and you DO vote for YesOn1 it's like racking up TWO votes for YesOn1.
(And also yes on 2 and 4)
Math makes me dizzy.
Anyhow, don't vote on the governor line at all, because that raises the bar on the votes required for the Amendments.
Just for the Amendments. 1, 2, and 4.
No. Thank you for alerting us Tennessee freepers to the issue.
Are you serious? The RATS taking the blame for anything? Not in this lifetime.
TN has become the #3 state for out of state abortions.
Lottery is up to your conscience and religious beliefs.
Amending the TN State Constitution is a 4 yr process. Or was when we passed the Victims Rights Constitutional Amendment.
Vote Yes on 1, 3, 4, NO on 2.
The proposed constitutional amendments on the Nov. 4 ballot:
Amendment 1: Shall Article I of the Constitution of Tennessee be amended by adding the following language as a new, appropriately designated section:
“Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”
Amendment 2:
Shall Article VI, Section 3 of the Constitution of Tennessee be amended by deleting the first and second sentences and by substituting instead the following: “Judges of the Supreme Court or any intermediate appellate court shall be appointed for a full term or to fill a vacancy by and at the discretion of the governor; shall be confirmed by the Legislature; and thereafter, shall be elected in a retention election by the qualified voters of the state. Confirmation by default occurs if the Legislature fails to reject an appointee within sixty calendar days of either the date of appointment, if made during the annual legislative session, or the convening date of the next annual legislative session, if made out of session. The Legislature is authorized to prescribe such provisions as may be necessary to carry out Sections two and three of this article.”
Amendment 3:
Shall Article II, Section 28 of the Constitution of Tennessee be amended by adding the following sentence at the end of the final substantive paragraph within the section: “Notwithstanding the authority to tax privileges or any other authority set forth in this Constitution, the Legislature shall not levy, authorize or otherwise permit any state or local tax upon payroll or earned personal income or any state or local tax measured by payroll or earned personal income; however, nothing contained herein shall be construed as prohibiting any tax in effect on January 1, 2011, or adjustment of the rate of such tax.”
Amendment 4:
Shall Article XI, Section 5 of the Constitution of Tennessee be amended by deleting the following language: “All other forms of lottery not authorized herein are expressly prohibited unless authorized by a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house of the general assembly for an annual event operated for the benefit of a 501(c)(3) organization located in this state, as defined by the 2000 United States Tax Code or as may be amended from time to time.”
and by substituting instead the following language: “All other forms of lottery not authorized herein are expressly prohibited unless authorized by a two-thirds vote of all members elected to each house of the general assembly for an annual event operated for the benefit of a 501(c)(3) or a 501(c)(19) organization, as defined by the 2000 United States Tax Code, located in this state.”
Yes on 1
http://www.yeson1tn.org/
Bill Haslam may stroll to re-election. ... But here in Tennessee, Haslam has no credible Democratic opponent in sight.
They did to Conservative State Rep Joe Carr what thad cochran did to McDaniel’s with lamar. Dem cross over votes in the primary. Other wise Carr would have won. And he ran a sorry local rep campaign, barely getting out of his home district. Few W. TN visits, most RSVP. Only 1 open 1 on a week day. And Millington was the perfect spot, it would draw Military who lamar shafted, and from 3 counties including Shelby. IF it were a day event on Saturday when people are not at work usually. And not at night when seniors find driving hard.
My rep is not the one I wanted to self interested, but she has no dem opponent. Same goes for Senator him I like and will vote for. But I am not voting for lamar or haslam. THERE IS NO NEED THEY WIN BY DEFAULT.
So it is not the same as the last presidential race of chosing between 2 evils. I did what you did held my nose and voted for RINO Romeny. With holding our votes from lamar and halsam will not make a WITS worth of difference to them, they are DEFAULT winners regardless.
It is the Amendments we need passed for the good of all Tennesseans.
Danny, I think the last time we Amended the TN State Constitution was under Sundquist. Crime Victims State Constitutional Rights. And he had a dem controlled congress. We also bounced SSCJ Penny White, and almost got Adolpho Birch, but he screamed racism. When it was not race but the Death Penalty for heinous convicted killers. Both were anti DP and found any excuse to void sentences for retrial. I was part of that movement being the mother of a murdered child.
We now have a chance to say NO state income tax, NO payroll tax on #3. 4 is your choice as it is lottery stuff.
2 is judges, and we want a NO vote there. WE NEED a NO vote there.
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