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Tennesseans vote 'Yes' on Amendment One


Tennessee voters had one of the most controversial issues in the nation listed on their ballots in order to define marriage and set precedent in the state's recognition of same-sex civil unions from other states where they would be legal.

Many candidates that were running for Senatorial, Gubernatorial and Congressional seats were firm in stating their personal beliefs on the definition of marriage in order to appeal to the potential voters as well as alert those voters to the issue at hand.

According to the Tennessean.com, Gubernatorial candidate Jim Bryson feels that he is a better candidate for governor because of his conservative ties that favor the ideals of the red-state.

“I voted twice for the marriage amendment. Gov. Bredesen didn't sign it when it came across his desk,” said Bryson.

Regarding the same issue, Senator-elect Bob Corker openly claims to be in support of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages, according to his campaign website.

With so much emphasis on banning gay marriage during this campaign year, there have been difficulties with the elderly accidentally voting no due to it being poorly written to “confuse and manipulate the elderly,” according to a report by News Channel 5.

In Carroll County, 90 percent voting yes on Amendment One with 10 voting no and 100 percent of precincts reporting. In Metro Nashville, 68 percent voting yes with 32 voting no and 99 percent of precincts reporting.

In Madison County, 87 percent voting yes with 13 percent yes and 100 percent of precincts reporting. In Shelby County, 80 percent voting yes with 20 percent no and 100 percent of precincts reporting.

In Obion County, 91 percent voting yes with 9 percent no and 100 percent of precincts reporting. In Henry County, 86 percent voting yes with 14 percent no and 100 percent of precincts reporting.

In Weakley County, 89 percent voting yes with 11 percent voting no and 100 percent of precincts reporting. The early voting numbers on this amendment are 3,522 for yes with 374 votes for no. The final tally for yes was 8,447 with no being 1,042 in Weakley.

Currently, 81 percent of the people have voted yes while 19 percent have voted no with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

With the majority of votes being yes, Tennesseans have voted to allow the government to add this amendment to its constitution banning gay marriages being performed in the state as well as allowing couples married in other states to be legally recognized as a married unit.

This election year, there were seven other states voting on similar initiatives to legislate this issue. The reasons for these states putting the issues on the docket is because of the Senate voting 48-49 against a constitutional ban in June and the House voting 236-187 against one in July.

President Bush was vocally supportive of an earlier form of this constitutional ban in 2004, which the House rejected. It was this vote that lead the president and supporters of the ban to ask states to handle this within their own governments.