Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee et al. v. Davidson County Election Commission

At issue is an election commission’s decision to set an election on proposed referendum measures to a local government’s charter.  In pre-election litigation over this decision, the trial court concluded, for various reasons, that the election commission’s decision to hold the election should be reversed.  The election commission now urges this Court to reinstate its decision to hold an election and to remand this matter to it with instructions to schedule a referendum election at a future date pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 2-3-204(a).  As explained in more detail in this Opinion, we conclude that this requested relief is not proper under the cited statute.  Moreover, because this appeal cannot serve as a vehicle to grant the election commission any relief, we consider the matter moot.  Notwithstanding this posture in the case, we do find it appropriate, in the exercise of our discretion, to address one of the specific legal issues presented by this appeal as an exception to the mootness doctrine.  As to that issue, which concerns the interpretation of a form requirement the local government’s charter places on petitions to amend the charter by referendum election, we agree with the trial court that the referendum petition at issue in this case ran afoul of the requirement in dispute.