Nashville Voters Reject English-Only Rule

Voters in Nashville, Tenn., have rejected prohibiting city government from using any language but English.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, the measure was defeated on a vote of 41,752 to 32,144.

The vote means the city of nearly 600,000 people refused to become the largest in the U.S. to prohibit translating written and spoken communications for residents who speak no or little English.

The proposal sparked intense debate. Proponents said using one language would have united the city, but business leaders, academics and the city's mayor worried it would have given the city a bad reputation. Similar measures have passed elsewhere.

It's not clear how much translation would have been silenced if the measure had passed. While the measure called for all government communication and publications to be printed in English, it allowed an exceptions for public health and safety.

The referendum's leader, city Councilman Eric Crafton, promoted it as a way to unite Nashville and prevent the kind of extensive translation services - and the associated expenses - provided by cities like New York or Los Angeles. He has pushed for English only since 2006 and got the issue before voters through a petition drive.

Business leaders, academics, religious leaders, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Gov. Phil Bredesen argued the measure would tarnish the city's welcoming image, harm tourism and business recruitment and endanger federal funding for many city services.

Claire King, 31, who lives in East Nashville, said Thursday that she voted against the amendment because "it sends a message of intolerance." She said she thought multiple perspectives and languages enrich the city's culture.

Nashville's documented translation expenses have totaled $522,287 since 2004. By comparison, the special election cost $300,000.

Thirty states, including Tennessee, and at least a dozen cities have declared English their official language, said K.C. McAlpin, executive director of Arlington, Va.-based ProEnglish, which donated money to support the referendum.

About 10 percent of Nashville's nearly 600,000 people speak a language other than English in their homes, according to census data. The city is 5 percent Hispanic and home to the nation's largest Kurdish community and refugees from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.