Official English Ballot Measure Earns 43 Percent of Vote in Nashville

Following months of inaccurate portrayals of the proposed legislation, Nashville voters narrowly rejected making English the official language of the city in a special election yesterday. The ballot measure to reduce government multilingualism and promote English acquisition fell short by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent. 

“I am disappointed to see that this measure has fallen prey to the smear campaign conducted up by the opponents of official English,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board of U.S. English, Inc. “Their false claims about the same official English legislation adopted by 30 states and more than 100 cities and counties indicates a lack of understanding of the very America they claim to protect. Worse, their support of the crutch of government multilingualism will only succeed in setting immigrants further behind.” 

The measure would have made English the official language of Davidson County and the City of Nashville. It would have required all official government actions and publications to be in English, except where covered by state and federal law. Contrary to the claims put forth by some elected officials, the legislation would not have diminished the provision of emergency services in languages other than English, nor would it have turned Nashville into an "English-only" city.   

In Feb. 2007, the Nashville City Council gave third and final approval to a measure that would have made English the official language of the city. Despite the council vote, the measure was vetoed by the mayor. Supporters of the initiative gathered more than 10,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot. 

Despite the setback in Nashville, recent polls have shown strong nationwide support for official English legislation, with 84 percent of respondents in a 2007 Harris Interactive poll indicating that they believe English should be made the official language of the United States. A similar ballot initiative in Missouri earned 86 percent of the vote in the Nov. 2008 elections, while efforts to make English the official language of Arizona passed with three-quarters of the vote in Nov. 2006.