Citizens in Charge

Article 17 – Mode of Amending the Constitution of This State
Section 1 - Proposed Amendments; Publication; Submission to Voters;
Adoption
(a) The Legislature, at any regular session, or at any special session when
the matter is included within the purposes for which the session is
convened, may propose amendments revising the Constitution, to be
voted upon by the qualified voters for statewide offices and propositions,
as defined in the Constitution and statutes of this State. The date of the
elections shall be specified by the Legislature. The proposal for submission
must be approved by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to
each House, entered by yeas and nays on the journals.

(b) A brief explanatory statement of the nature of a proposed
amendment, together with the date of the election and the wording of
the proposition as it is to appear on the ballot, shall be published twice in
each newspaper in the State which meets requirements set by the
Legislature for the publication of official notices of offices and
departments of the state government. The explanatory statement shall be
prepared by the Secretary of State and shall be approved by the
Attorney General. The Secretary of State shall send a full and complete
copy of the proposed amendment or amendments to each county clerk
who shall post the same in a public place in the courthouse at least 30
days prior to the election on said amendment. The first notice shall be
published not more than 60 days nor less than 50 days before the date of
the election, and the second notice shall be published on the same day
in the succeeding week. The Legislature shall fix the standards for the rate
of charge for the publication, which may not be higher than the
newspaper’s published national rate for advertising per column inch.

(c) The election shall be held in accordance with procedures prescribed
by the Legislature, and the returning officer in each county shall make
returns to the Secretary of State of the number of legal votes cast at the
election for and against each amendment. If it appears from the returns
that a majority of the votes cast have been cast in favor of an
amendment, it shall become a part of this Constitution, and proclamation
thereof shall be made by the Governor.

Excerpted from the Initiative & Referendum Almanac by M. Dane Waters.

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