After much debating and argument, the result of the vote was 48:48. After Burn voted twice to "table" the amendment, the house speaker called for a vote on the "merits". Burn followed his mother's advice and voted "aye". His vote broke the tie in favor of ratifying the amendment. He responded to attacks on his integrity and honor by inserting a personal statement into the House Journal, explaining his decision to cast the vote in part because "I knew that a mother’s advice is always safest for a boy to follow, and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification."