Voters on Tuesday approved a ballot measure that removes language allowing slavery and involuntary servitude as forms of punishment for those convicted of crimes.Nothing in this section shall prohibit an inmate from working when the inmate has been duly convicted of a crime.""I'm a non-lawyer and most of my voters are non-lawyers and I can't explain this amendment in words they understand," Republican State Senator Frank Niceley said during a 2021 meeting of the Tennessee General Assembly.The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery in 1865, but includes similar language allowing for involuntary servitude to be imposed as punishment for crimes."Words matter and in the constitution, there is still a resemblance of slavery leftover," Democratic State Rep. Joe Townes said in a bipartisan campaign ad with Republican Rep. Jeremy Faison."