( CNN ) -- Voters in Nashville , Tennessee -- a city that has seen a dramatic increase in its immigrant population -- rejected a measure Thursday that would have made English the only language used for government business in its metropolitan area . Nearly 57 percent of those who cast ballots Thursday in Nashville , Tennessee , voted against the measure . With all 173 precincts reporting , 41,752 voters , or nearly 57 percent , voted against the proposed amendment , with 32,144 voters supporting it , according to unofficial results posted on the Nashville city government Web site . `` No person shall have a right to government services in any other language , '' the proposal read . The measure would have included government meetings . The Metropolitan Council , which submitted the measure , could have mandated exceptions to protect public health and safety . Elise Shore , southeast director of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund , said her regional office in Atlanta , Georgia , was monitoring the Nashville balloting . `` We just elected our first black president . There are the forces of globalization and conducting business around the world ... in the face of this , we see these measures ? '' Shore asked . The proposal `` sends a strong message ... this is a negative message . In fact , it invites discrimination , '' she said . In a newspaper editorial published Thursday , The Tennessean urged voters to defeat the proposal . `` This amendment would exclude and marginalize those residents and visitors to Nashville simply because English is not their native tongue , '' the editorial said . The polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m. Before the measure was defeated , a spokesman for U.S. English Inc. , an action group that supports English-only laws nationwide , said the Nashville proposal was a good one . `` Government programs are aimed at helping people reach self-sufficiency and success , '' Rob Toonkel said . `` Allowing use of a second language does n't encourage them to learn English . '' `` The key word [ of the amendment ] is 'actions that bind the government , ' `` Toonkel said , which would cover transactions such as getting a city contract . If a non-English speaker needs help filling out a form , and someone in that agency speaks their language , they should be helped , he said . `` But you should n't be able to come in , pick up a form [ in another language ] and leave . '' According to Toonkel , about 30 states and more than 100 localities have made English their official language , and he said his organization believes such laws are legal . Raul Gonzalez , legislative director for the National Council of La Raza , said the message of the proposal is discriminatory . `` What it ... says is , 'If you speak a language other than English , you may not be welcome here , ' `` Gonzalez said . La Raza is a nonprofit , nonpartisan organization focused on reducing poverty and discrimination and improving opportunities for Hispanic Americans . Gonzalez said similar English-only laws across the country `` have so many exceptions they are meaningless . '' In an editorial earlier this month , The Tennessean quoted the referendum 's sponsor , Councilman Eric Crafton , who said the bill was needed to save the city $ 100,000 to $ 150,000 in annual translation and related costs . However , metro officials told the newspaper such services are provided by employees already on the city 's payroll . The council passed a similar bill in 2007 , but it was vetoed by then-Mayor Bill Purcell , who called it `` unconstitutional , unnecessary and mean-spirited , '' according to The Tennessean . U.S. Census data from 2000 showed an increase of 210 percent in the immigrant population of the Nashville metro area , including Davidson County , since 1990 . During that decade , immigrants accounted for 45 percent of the overall population increase in the city . More than two-thirds , or 67 percent , of the area 's foreign-born population had entered since 1990 . This was much higher than the rate for the state overall , which was about 58 percent . The Census Bureau 's American Community Survey , taken between 2005 and 2007 for the Nashville metro area , shows a population of 613,632 . Of that number , 61,843 were foreign-born , with most of the immigrants coming from Latin America . About 73,000 residents speak a language other than English at home and , of those , 35,290 speak English less than `` very well , '' the survey found .
NEW : 57 percent vote against English-only measure in Nashville , Tennessee . Proposal : `` No person shall have a right '' to government services not in English . Measure would `` exclude and marginalize '' some residents , newspaper says .