constitutional amendment

March 12, 2020 - Arkansas and Virginia would be the first Southern states to have citizen-led redistricting commissions draw their legislative and congressional districts. Advocates hope it will help put an end to partisan and racial gerrymandering.

May 3, 2019 - After voters approved a constitutional amendment restoring the franchise to people with felony convictions, Florida lawmakers are trying to make it harder for citizens to put amendments on the ballot. Legislators in Arkansas, the only other Southern state that allows citizen-initiated amendments, did likewise after voters passed a minimum-wage hike.

August 14, 2018 - Several lawsuits seek to keep proposed state constitutional amendments off the ballot this November — and one filed by the state NAACP and Clean Air Carolina seeks to have the racially gerrymandered legislature declared illegitimate and blocked from changing the blueprint of state government.

July 30, 2018 - North Carolina lawmakers recently called a special session to make major changes to election ballots. The changes aim to influence the outcome of the state Supreme Court election and referenda on constitutional amendments that would give the legislature more power. 

March 16, 2018 - Nursing homes and other corporations that do not like being sued are pushing state constitutional amendments to limit damages juries can award — the latest move in a long corporate-funded campaign to limit access to civil justice. 

January 26, 2018 - A proposed constitutional amendment would give the state legislature control over choosing judges — a power it has not had since the Civil War.

January 22, 2016 - Six years since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down restrictions on political spending, overwhelming numbers of Americans across the partisan spectrum says it's time for far-reaching reforms — and the message is getting through to elected officials.