Abortion amendment backers urged to sit out gov's race
Someone who appears to support Tennessee's proposed constitutional amendment on abortion has quietly launched an online campaign to tell voters how to help it pass: Don't cast a ballot for any candidate in the governor's race.
But neither of the two main groups campaigning on this year's closest watched issue know who is behind it, and no one has taken credit for it.
A recently launched website at truthon1.org features a YouTube video in which a woman explains why sitting out of the governor's race during this year's election — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is widely seen as a shoo-in against Democrat Charlie Brown — might be good for supporters of Amendment 1, which would change the Tennessee constitution to grant state lawmakers power to set new restrictions on abortion.
"Double your vote on Amendment 1," the narrator tells voters.
That logic, though not mathematically a "double vote," hinges on a provision in the state constitution that outlines the threshold an amendment must get for it to succeed — a majority of the votes cast in the gubernatorial election regardless of the number of votes cast on the amendment.
That means that if 1.5 million people vote in the abortion referendum and 1.4 million vote for governor, 700,001 votes will get the job done for the amendment, even if the total is less than half on that issue -- as long as there are more "yes" votes than "no" votes. But if 1.4 million vote for governor and just 1.3 million people vote on the abortion referendum, anti-abortion forces will still need 700,001 votes.
"I know you may think this is crazy, but it doesn't matter," the video says. "It's the law. What does it mean for us? Vote yes for Amendment 1, but don't vote in the governor's race. The less people who vote in the governor's race means it takes less votes to pass the amendment.
"In other words, if you vote yes on 1, but don't vote in the governor's race you'll double your vote.
"Here's the deal: Please tell your friends! Forward this video to them."
The website is registered anonymously in Panama. It shows a trademarked "Truth on 1" logo but that name is not connected to any of the eight committees on Amendment 1 registered with the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance. The website itself doesn't identify an organization, although videos are posted on YouTube under the name "Tenn Williamson."
David Fowler, president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, which operates one of those committees, said he doesn't know who created the website, nor does he subscribe to its message.
The same goes from Tennessee Right to Life President Brian Harris, a coordinator with the Yes on1 campaign.
"I would like to just underscore that while that strategy is technically correct, it's not something that we're advocating from the campaign," Harris said.
Democrats, meanwhile, lacking a serious gubernatorial candidate, have started to urge their supporters to simply vote in the governor's race regardless of who they choose. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, for example, has pledged his support for perennial candidate John Jay Hooker.
The website has drawn the attention from Amendment 1 opponents, who say sitting out an election is the wrong thing to do, particularly in this case.
"Telling people to not vote on the governor's race in order to help an amendment that would give politicians more power is just nonsense and it's crazy," said Lisa Carter, Amendment 1 coordinator with the Tennessee Democratic Party.
Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.