Ed Wood "The Right Stuff" Published June 12, 2002

The lottery. Always the lottery

Bet you thought with all the attention on the income tax that the lottery tax was dead. Not hardly! Former Clinton aide James Carville is credited with developing the scheme to couple lottery referenda with gubernatorial elections. The idea is that liberals will turn out to vote for the lottery, and while they are at it, also vote for the liberal (a.k.a. Democrat) gubernatorial candidate. His strategy has already been successful in electing three Southern Democrat governors: South Carolina, Georgia, and I believe, Alabama.

So the Demo-dominated Tennessee legislature is following Carville's plan for this fall's general election. As it now stands, first on the November ballot will be the vote for governor. Listed second on the ballot will be the vote to amend Article XI, Section 5, of the Tennessee Constitution (SJR No. 1), " to authorize the General Assembly to propose legislation that if passed would allow a lottery in Tennessee." Then the vote for U.S. Senate candidates, Congressional candidates, etc., etc.

But Tennessee is a little different. We have a little-known and even less understood procedure to determine the results of a vote to amend the Tennessee Constitution. "In order for a proposed constitutional amendment to be adopted, the amendment must be approved by a 'majority' (i.e., 50 percent plus 1) of all the individuals of the state who vote in the election for governor."

This means that the total number of votes cast in favor of the lottery, per se, is irrelevant! The only thing that matters is a comparison of the number of "yes" lottery votes relative to the total votes for governor. It is quite possible for the lottery amendment to win 2:1, and still fail, unless it passes the simple majority rule of the gubernatorial vote. It then follows that the fewer votes cast for governor, the greater the chance for passage of the lottery amendment.

As we all know, there is an active movement to entice many first-time voters to the polls in order to support the lottery. But the most positive move toward passage of the lottery amendment would be for these first-time, one-issue voters to vote the lottery only, and not place a gubernatorial vote.

So look for a revision in the November election to place the lottery amendment at the top of the ballot, with the gubernatorial selection as far down as they dare to make it.
Interesting, huh?

· · ·
Ed Wood is a resident of Sparta, TN. His column is published each Wednesday in the Crossville Chronicle.