Constitutions are the source of the fundamental law of a political community, setting up basic structures, rules and rights. They are the foundation of statutory law (which are the “regular” laws of a community), while they simultaneously supersede those statutes.

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.

There are typically two different methods of amending constitutions, with tradeoffs involved in each method.

A few years ago, I had what I thought was a simple question: how many times has Virginia’s constitution been amended since its 1971 revision?