How to Count Amendments

In Virginia, constitutional amendments begin their life in the legislature. Delegates or state Senators propose an amendment resolution; if passed in two different sessions, the amendment is put before voters in a fall election as a referendum. But legislators have taken different approaches to making this process work.

In 2020, for example, voters were faced with two ballot questions, each one proposing a different change to the Constitution. One referendum concerned the redistricting process; another concerned property tax exemptions for veterans. Each of these issues were introduced and voted on as separate resolutions by legislators in the two previous General Assembly sessions.

In 1975-76, however, the process was much more convoluted. Legislators combined SIX proposed constitutional changes into ONE resolution. Five of these changes concerned the same issue, voting and elections, but the sixth was an entirely separate tax issue. The proposed changes included:

  • Residency requirements for voters (Article II, Section 1-2)
  • Absentee voter registration (Article II, Section 4)
  • Residency requirements for candidates for office (Article II, Section 5)
  • Repeal restrictions against public officials and employees serving as election officers (Article II, Section 8)
  • Rules for special elections for short-term vacancies (Article VI, Section 12)
  • A variety of tax exemptions relating to disability, solar energy, farming and flooding (Article X, Section 6)

The big question: is this one amendment or six amendments?

Thankfully, the bill that would take the approved constitutional changes and put them on the ballot separated these issues into six separate ballot questions, so that voters could approve or deny each one. In fact, Virginians voted against allowing public officials and employees to serve as election officers, while approving the other five issues. So rather than call this a single amendment that was 5/6 successful (?!), the VAP has taken the position that these are all separate amendment proposals, and that the 1976 election added FIVE different amendments to the Constitution of Virginia.