Updating state’s 1901 Constitution on November ballot

MADISON – Two items related to the Alabama Constitution will be on the ballot in November. These items have already received unanimous support from members of the state legislature and Gov. Kay Ivey.

Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform or ACCR also fully endorses ratification of the Constitution of 2022 and companion Amendment 10 which, together, complete the process of updating the state’s 1901 Constitution.

In 2020, Alabama voters approved an amendment that authorized the Legislative Services Agency or LSA to clean up and consolidate the document and to remove any duplicative content. That agency has now completed the updates, ACCR Treasurer Kathey Bradford of Madison said.

The ballot will read: “Shall the following recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901 be ratified. Proposing adoption of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, which is a recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, prepared in accordance with Amendment 951, arranging the constitution in proper articles, parts and sections, removing racist language, deleting duplicated and repealed provisions, consolidating provisions regarding economic development, arranging all local amendments by county of application and making no other changes.”

To read the proposed updates, visit the website of the Secretary of State of Alabama at sos.state.al.us and at www.legislature.state.al.us/lsa.

According to Wayne Flynt, professor, historian and author, “The unanimous support of our state lawmakers, on both sides of the aisle, has been a key factor in paving the way for our state’s much-needed constitutional updates. These steps will bring clarity to the document, making it easier for all of us to understand.”

Alabama House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said, “For several years, we’ve been working on cleaning up the Constitution and the wording in it, and this will move us forward with helping to accomplish that. There is some racist terminology in there, and this is going to address all racist words.”

Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform was founded in 2000 by civic, business and political leaders, following decades of efforts to address the underlying issues of inefficiency and inequality in the state’s 1901 Constitution.

For more information, visit constitutionalreform.org.

Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform fully endorses ratification of the Constitution of 2022 and companion Amendment 10 which, together, complete the process of updating the state’s 1901 Constitution. CONTRIBUTED