Wisconsin Question 4, Declaration of Rights Language Amendment (April 1986)

Wisconsin Question 4
Election date April 1, 1986
Topic Constitutional wording changes
Status Approved
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Wisconsin Question 4 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Wisconsin on April 1, 1986. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported changing the constitutional phrase "serve these rights" back to "secure these rights" to match the Declaration of Independence, undoing the November 1982 substitution.

A "no" vote opposed changing the constitutional phrase "serve these rights" back to "secure these rights" to match the Declaration of Independence, maintaining the November 1982 substitution.

Election results

Wisconsin Question 4
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		419,699	86.52%
No		65,418	13.48%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Question 4 was as follows:

“

Shall section I of article I of the state constitution be amended so as to reinsert into the Wisconsin text the word 'secure' so that the phrase 'to secure these rights' (the word serve was substituted in November 1982) again agrees with the 1776 Declaration of Independence of the United States?

”

Constitutional changes

	(NOTE: Scored material is added; stricken material is deleted; italics show text created.) [Article I] Section 1 . All people are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; to serve secure these rights, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Wisconsin Constitution

A simple majority vote is required during two legislative sessions for the Wisconsin State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 50 votes in the Wisconsin State Assembly and 17 votes in the Wisconsin State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

See also

1986 Measures

• 1986 Measures
• Constitutional wording changes on the ballot
• 1986 legislative sessions

Wisconsin

• Wisconsin ballot measures
• Wisconsin ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls