A federal judge has ordered a recount of Tennessee’s controversial 2014 abortion measure Amendment 1. U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp on Friday declared the method the state used to count votes for the amendment “fundamentally unfair” and in violation of due process and equal protection rights for voters under the U.S. Constitution. The “no” votes of the eight plaintiffs “were not accorded the same weight” as those who voted in favor of the amendment, the judge concluded. “As a remedy, the Court will order a recount of the 2014 Election solely in relation to Amendment 1, but defer ruling on the question of whether the election on Amendment 1 should be voided,” the 52-page ruling said. The ruling does not apply to three other amendments on the ballot in 2014.
The ruling orders state election officials to re-tabulate votes to count only those votes on Amendment 1 that were cast by voters who also voted in the governor’s race.
A recount is possible for 94 of 95 counties, which have kept the election data. A fire in 2015 destroyed a county administration building in Van Buren County, destroying all the election machines. Sharp noted in his order that Van Buren has a small voter population.
The judge gave election officials 20 days to submit a proposed recount timeline for the court’s approval.
Full Article: Federal judge orders recount of 2014 abortion ballot vote.