Nashville Charter Amendment 1 of 2009 (also known as the Nashville English Only Amendment or Nashville English First Amendment) was a proposed amendment to the charter of Nashville, Tennessee[1] which, if passed, would have restricted the use of foreign languages in relation to the functions of the city government.
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English is the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Official actions that bind or commit the government shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, boards, and commissions of the Metropolitan Government shall be conducted in English. The Metro Council may make specific exceptions to protect public health and safety. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or state law.[2] | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: ABC News[3] | |||||||||||||||||||
Early voting was held from January 2, 2009 to January 17, 2009.[4] Regular voting was held on January 22, 2009.[5] The amendment failed to pass, with only 43.5% of voters supporting it.
The referendum took place amidst a broader English-only movement in the United States. Most of the funding for the initiative came from the Virginia-based lobbying organization ProEnglish.[6]
- ^ "Nashville.gov - Election Commission". Davidson County Election Commission. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ^ "Nashville English First". Nashville English First. Archived from the original on 2009-01-24. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ^ Cousins, Juanita. "Nashville voters reject 'English-First' proposal". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2009-03-08. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
- ^ "Nashville.gov - Election Commission - Early Voting Schedule". Davidson County Election Commission. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ^ "Nashville.gov - Election Commission". Davidson County Election Commission. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
- ^ Cass, Michael (27 January 2009). "Out-of-state group gave almost all of English-only campaign funds". The Tennessean.
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