Chancellor denies writ as race to certify 47,679 petition signatures continues

Nashville chancery court denied a legal challenge from a group opposing auto racing at The Fairgrounds Nashville on Wednesday. Chancellor Anne Martin ruled against Decline to Sign, the coalition fighting a ballot referendum that would replace the racetrack with affordable or workforce housing. The decision does not settle the dispute over the validity of the petition signatures. Instead, it directs the pro-racing group to a different legal path.

The ruling follows a Tuesday hearing where both sides acknowledged that further litigation is imminent. The Davidson County Election Commission certified a petition for a referendum on Oct. 16. That certification cleared the way for a new lawsuit under the Metro Charter.

Decline to Sign originally filed suit on Oct. 8. The group alleged that the Restore Our Fairgrounds coalition should have removed approximately 2,000 signatures from the petition. A NewsChannel 5 investigation found that some canvassers told residents the racetrack was already scheduled for demolition, a claim that was untrue. During the 90 days the petition circulated, the coalition received 139 emails from people asking to be removed. Between Sept. 10 and Sept. 16, the coalition’s email address received more than 2,000 such requests.

Restore Our Fairgrounds attorney Will Helou described the recent surge of emails as form letters from third-party spam addresses. He stated that his team replied to each personal address listed in those letters, asking for verification. According to Martin’s order, 542 people responded and were removed from the petition. Helou noted that plaintiff Devra Bagwell did not reply to the verification request. He also presented an email from a signer who said the form letter was duplicitous and that they wanted to keep their name on the petition.

Decline to Sign attorney Michael Cottone argued that the names alone should have been sufficient for removal without verification. During the certification process, the election commission rejected more than 26,000 signatures, leaving 47,679 valid names. The petition required 40,194 votes, which is 10 percent of Davidson County’s active registered voters. Cottone argued the threshold should have included all registered voters, not just active ones. That change would raise the requirement to 47,000, making the 2,000 disputed signatures consequential to the outcome.

Martin described the path to granting the requested writ of mandamus as a narrow lane. She ruled that such a writ is only available when no other plain, adequate, and complete method of obtaining relief exists. Under the Metro Charter, an appropriate remedy is to seek a writ of certiorari in chancery court. Cottone said the group did not seek that writ on Oct. 8 because the election commission had not yet certified the petition at that time.

Martin wrote in her final order that since the commission has certified the charter petition, a writ of certiorari is the appropriate avenue for relief. Both sides indicated during the hearing that a suit seeking that writ is imminent. Helou joked that he could probably write the opposing complaint.

Mike Kopp, co-founder of Restore Our Fairgrounds, said the group is grateful the court rejected what he called frivolous legal arguments. He questioned why opponents are fighting so hard against letting voters decide the issue. Decline to Sign issued a statement saying the certification does not change the fact that more than 2,000 residents asked for their signatures to be removed. The group stated it will pursue new claims through the writ of certiorari process as outlined in the Metro Charter.