Judge rules to keep English-only measure off ballot

By JANELL ROSS • Staff Writer (Tennessean) • September 4, 2008 Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman has just ruled that the English-only proposal can not appear on Davidson County ballots Nov.4. The judge's ruling affirmed the Davidson County Election Commission's 3-2 decision last week to leave the measure off the ballot because Metro Legal advised the commission that the Metro charter forbids more than one petition-driven referendum in a two-year period. A measure that ultimately gave Davidson County voters some control over tax increases appeared on a Davidson County ballot in Nov. 7, 2006.The commission did, however, certify that the English-only measure had received the necessary 10,103 registered voter signatures to be eligible to appear on the ballot. Last week, Councilman Eric Crafton and a group known as Nashville English First, the driving forces behind the measure, filed suit against the commission seeking to overrule its reading of the Metro Charter.Crafton indicated Thursday that he intended to appeal Bonnyman's ruling.