Nashville’s transit referendum will stand, per the Davidson County Chancery Court. Chancellor Anne Martin dismissed legal arguments brought by activists Emily Evans and Kirk Clements on Monday after an expedited proceeding seeking to void the result of the Nov. 5 referendum vote.
Martin ruled against plaintiffs on both process and substance, finding that Evans and Clements have neither a legitimate argument to invalidate election results nor an argument against the legality of the plan itself.
“Plaintiffs do not allege that votes were illegally cast or that votes were illegally counted,” Martin writes in the judgment issued Monday, Jan 13. “It is undisputed that the certified results of the Referendum Election reflect the votes that were cast. As such, Plaintiffs’ lawsuit is not an election contest properly brought.”
Voters give mayor’s $3.1 billion plan the green light
She goes on to rule that the ballot language and the Transit Improvement Plan (TIP) itself comply with the IMPROVE Act, a state law that enables the referendum’s funding source.
“Throughout 2024, the Department of Law worked closely with the mayor, his staff, and multiple department heads to ensure the components of the transit improvement program complied with state law,” reads a statement from Metro legal director Wally Dietz. “Court’s decision in Metro’s favor confirms that the elements of the TIP and the process run by the mayor complied in every way with the law.”
The lawsuit continued efforts mounted over the summer against the sales tax bump sought by O’Connell as a dedicated funding stream for transit-related improvements. On Nov. 27, Clements sued O’Connell on behalf of the Committee to Stop An Unfair Tax, a group that opposed the 2024 transit referendum. He is also chief counsel with the Sovereignty Legal Foundation, which sues governments in instances of so-called "overreach." Evans represented Belle Meade on the Metro Council from 2007 to 2015 and chaired the anti-transit group.
