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Shall Article I, Section 33 of the Constitution of Tennessee be amended by deleting the section and substituting instead the following? "Section 33. Slavery and involuntary servitude are forever prohibited. Nothing in this section shall prohibit an inmate from working when the inmate has been duly convicted of a crime." | |||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Yes
80–90%
70–80%
60–70% | |||||||||||||||||||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
The Tennessee Constitutional Amendment: 3, commonly known as Amendment 3 or the Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Amendment, is an approved legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the Constitution of Tennessee that appeared on November 8, 2022. The proposed amendment modifies Article I, Section 33 of the Tennessee Constitution, removing the existing provision that allows slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for convicted individuals. Instead, the amendment explicitly states that slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited while allowing inmates to work if they are duly convicted of a crime. The change seeks to clarify and restrict the use of involuntary labor within the state.[2][3]
Every county in the state voted in favor of this amendment, with "Yes" getting nearly 80% of the vote.[4][5]
- ^ "Tennessee Amendment Election Results". Tennessee Secretary of State. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Proposed Constitutional Amendments | Tennessee Secretary of State". sos.tn.gov. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
- ^ "Tennessee Constitutional Amendment 3, Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Amendment (2022)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ^ "Tennessee Election Results". www.elections.tn.gov. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
- ^ "Tennessee Amendment 3 Election Results: Remove Constitutional Language Allowing Slavery as Punishment". The New York Times. 2022-11-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-10-07.