The Orbis

Issue date: 1/21/09 Section: News/Features

The Tennessean and WSMV (Channel 4 - NBC) have reported that Nashville voters rejected Proposition #1, which would have amended the Metro Charter to force all Metro Nashville government business to be conducted in English.

Voters also rejected Proposition #2, which would have amended the Metro Charter so that future amendment propositions proposed by members of the public would only require one percent of Nashville voters to sign a petition versus the existing ten percent threshold. Proposition #2's goal was to make it easier to pass initiatives similar to Proposition #1.

With all 173 precincts reporting, Proposition #1 failed with 41,752 votes (56.5%) against the proposition and 32,144 votes (43.5%) for the proposition. Proposition #2 failed with 45,453 votes (62.8%) against the proposition and 26,903 (37.2%) for the proposition.

English-only supporters have argued, often with little credible evidence, that the proposition would save the government translator costs and that Metro Council could have enacted exceptions for public health and safety. Backers of the English-only campaign were convinced that Nashville voters would vote in favor of the amendment, despite many prominent local politicians from both parties and most local university heads speaking out against the propositions.

Those who campaigned against the propositions argued that English-only may have been merely a veil for deeper xenophobic sentiment. Furthermore, they argued that, instead of saving Nashville money, passage of the propositions could have had possibly devastating economic reprisals for Nashville.

The resounding rejection of both propositions by voters comes as a harsh defeat for Eric Crafton, a Metro councilman and Vanderbilt alumnus, who spearheaded the English-only campaign.

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