Why Are Parts Of The Tennessee Constitution Unconstitutional?

The Tennessee constitution is at the heart of this fall’s election, as voters are considering four potential amendments that would change it. But if you look at what’s currently in written in that document, you’ll find an interesting quirk: Some passages of the constitution are actually unconstitutional. We explore one of those passages and why the language is still in there.

This isn’t a quirk that’s unique to Tennessee. The U.S. constitution itself still has unconstitutional passages: Article I, section 2 talks about counting slaves as three-fifths of a person. Even though the 14th amendment overrides it, the language remains.