Tennessee to appeal abortion recount
The Tennessee Attorney General will appeal a federal judge's order to recount votes on the controversial 2014 abortion measure Amendment 1.
"We obviously disagree with the federal court’s decision," spokesman Harlow Sumerford said. "Simply put, deciding what vote is required to amend the Tennessee Constitution is a matter of state law to be determined by a Tennessee court."
The appeal effectively puts any potential recount on hold - likely for months as it goes through the appeals process at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, according to Dewey Branstetter, an attorney with Sherrard, Roe, Voigt, Harbison who is representing eight voters seeking the recount. Branstetter said the appeal was not unexpected.
"While we’re not terribly surprised that they would file an appeal, it is disappointing they would continue to litigate this case when (the federal judge) has so clearly determined how this portion of the constitution should be interpreted and how the state’s interpretation would violate our clients constitutional rights," Branstetter said.
Amendment 1 removed abortion as a right under the state constitution.
Federal judge orders recount of 2014 abortion ballot vote
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp ordered state election officials to recount the vote on the abortion measure, which passed with a 53 majority in 2014. Sharp said the state's vote counting methods were unfair to those opposed to the amendment and in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Sharp's order requires election officials to count only those votes for or against the amendment that were cast by voters who also voted in the governor's race.
Unlike a simple majority required for a candidate to succeed, the Tennessee constitution requires amendments to pass by a majority of the votes cast in the governor's race.
Sharp concluded that the language in the Tennessee Constitution require voters to vote in both races in order to have their votes counted for or against an amendment.
State election officials have long interpreted the language to mean that for an amendment to succeed, it must garner a majority of the votes cast for governor, regardless of whether the same individuals voted for both governor and an amendment.
Judge upholds vote count on Tennessee abortion ballot measure
Sharp's ruling came a day after a Williamson County judge ruled that the election officials' interpretation was correct.
Eight voters opposed to the abortion measure first filed suit in November 2014 challenging the state's vote tabulation methods.
State Sen. Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican who is running for Lieutenant Governor, sent a letter Tuesday urging the Attorney General's office to appeal, saying the federal court order "places Tennessee's entire constitutional amendment process in jeopardy."
The Attorney General filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati on Tuesday.
Reach Anita Wadhwani at 615-259-8092 or on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani.
