MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- As Tennessean’s head to the polls, the fates of two proposed constitutional amendments are uncertain.
Amendment Three would ban the State from ever imposing a personal income tax on residents. A poll by Middle Tennessee State University shows just 30 percent of registered voters surveyed support the ban, while 25 percent oppose it. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, meaning the issue is a statistical dead heat.
Amendment One, the so-called abortion amendment, is also too close to call. The MTSU Poll shows 39 percent of state residents surveyed favor the amendment, giving lawmakers more authority to regulate abortion, while 32 percent are opposed.
MTSU Poll Director Ken Blake says voters are split along fairly predictable lines on
Amendment One.
“We find that 43 percent of Tennesseans who self-identify as Evangelical Christians support the amendment. That’s compared to only 29 percent of Tennesseans who don’t identify that way. There’s also a gender split. Thirty-four percent of women favor the amendment, compared to -- significantly more – 44 percent of men.”
Blake says 15 percent of voters surveyed are still undecided about Amendment One, making the outcome too close to call.