In a victory for abortion opponents and Tennessee election officials, a Williamson County judge on Thursday upheld the state's method of counting votes on the 2014 controversial abortion measure Amendment 1.

When Amendment 1 passed with 53 percent of the vote, it was among the most expensive and hotly contested ballot measures in Tennessee history. The measure amended the state constitution to explicitly eliminate abortion as a right in Tennessee. In practice, its passage has given lawmakers more power to restrict and regulate abortion. Two new laws — one imposing regulations on abortion providers and another requiring a 48-hour waiting period on women seeking an abortion — were enacted within months of the election.

But within days of its passage, eight voters opposing the measure, including the board chair of Planned Parenthood of Middle & Eastern Tennessee, filed suit in federal court contesting the state's method of counting votes.

State lawyers, in turn, filed suit against those eight voters in a Williamson County court in September 2015, two months after a federal judge refused their request to dismiss the suit. The state in the Williamson County suit sought an order stating that Tennessee election officials' method of counting votes was consistent with the state constitution.