Alabama Recompiled Constitution Ratification Question (2022)

Alabama Recompiled Constitution Ratification Question
Election date November 8, 2022
Topic Constitutional language
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

The Alabama Recompiled Constitution Ratification Question was on the ballot in Alabama as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported ratifying the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, an updated and recompiled state constitution that was drafted to do the following:  arrange it in proper articles, parts, and sections; remove all racist language; delete duplicative and repealed provisions; consolidate provisions regarding economic development; and arrange all local amendments by county of application.

A "no" vote opposed adopting the proposed recompiled and updated state constitution.

Election results

Alabama Question
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		888,456	76.49%
No		273,040	23.51%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did the approval of this ratification question change about the Alabama Constitution?

See also: Ballot language and constitutional changes

Voter approval of this measure ratified an updated and recompiled state constitution, the Constitution of Alabama 2022. The Alabama State Legislature was authorized to update language in the constitution and recompile it into proper sections following voter approval of Amendment 4 in 2020.

Changes to the constitution were limited to:

• arranging it in proper articles, parts, and sections;
• removing all racist language;
• deleting duplicative and repealed provisions;
• consolidating provisions regarding economic development; and
• arranging all local amendments by county of application.

The proposed recompiled constitution was prepared by the Director of the Legislative Services Agency with recommendations from the Joint Interim Legislative Committee on the Recompilation of the Constitution as well as opportunity for public comment. The full text of the 2022 Constitution is available here.

What are examples of racist language that were removed from the constitution?

See also: Text of measure and Background

The following sections that appeared in the Constitution of Alabama of 1901 were removed:

• Section 32 of Article I: "That no form of slavery shall exist in this state; and there shall not be any involuntary servitude, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, of which the party shall have been duly convicted."

• Section 102 of Article IV: "The Legislature shall never pass any law to authorize or legalize any marriage between any white person and a Negro, or descendant of a negro."

• Section 256 of Article XIV: "Separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race" and "To avoid confusion and disorder and to promote effective and economical planning for education, the legislature may authorize the parents or guardians of minors, who desire that such minors shall attend schools provided for their own race, to make election to that end, such election to be effective for such period and to such extent as the legislature may provide."

• Section 259 of Article XIV: "All poll taxes collected in this state shall be applied to the support and furtherance of education in the respective counties where collected."

What did people say about this ballot measure?

See also: Arguments

Speaking about the motivation behind adopting a new state constitution, legislative sponsor Merika Coleman (D) said it would send "a message out about who we are. It is important for us to let folks know we are a 21st century Alabama, that we’re not the same Alabama of 1901 that didn’t want Black and white folks to get married, that didn’t think that Black and white children should go to school together."

Marva Douglas, a member of Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform said, "I am tired of being treated as a second-class citizen, and terms like ‘colored’ that are throughout the Constitution play a part in that feeling."

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R) said, "For several years, we’ve been working on cleaning up the Constitution and the wording in it, and this will move us forward with helping to accomplish that. There is some racist terminology in there and this is going to address some of that."

How were 2022 voter-approved constitutional amendments designed to be added to the new constitution?

An amendment on the 2022 ballot was designed to authorize the Code Commissioner to incorporate constitutional amendments that were approved at the elections on May 24 and November 8 into the Alabama Constitution of 2022. Since the amendments on the ballot were written to amend the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, approval of the amendment was required to incorporate them into the updated Constitution of Alabama of 2022.

The measure made it possible to add the following proposed 2022 constitutional amendments to the new 2022 state constitution:

• Authorize $85 Million in Bonds for Public Historical Sites and State Parks Amendment;
• Remove Orphans' Business from Probate Court Jurisdiction Amendment;
• Allow Denial of Bail for Offenses Enumerated by State Legislature Amendment;
• Prohibit Changes to Election Conduct Laws within Six Months of General Elections Amendment;
• Notice to Victim's Family Required for Commutation or Reprieve of Death Sentences Amendment;
• County and Municipality Economic and Industrial Development Financing Amendment; and
• Authorize Certain Cities to Use Special Property Tax Revenue to Pay for Capital Improvements Directly Amendment.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Proposing adoption of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, which is a recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, prepared in accordance with Amendment 951, arranging the constitution in proper articles, parts, and sections, removing racist language, deleting duplicated and repealed provisions, consolidating provisions regarding economic development, arranging all local amendments by county of application, and making no other changes. (Proposed by Act 2022-111) Yes ( ) No ( )

”

Ballot summary

The Alabama Fair Ballot Commission wrote the following ballot statement:

“ Alabama’s voters will have the opportunity to vote on a reorganized state constitution at the November 8, 2022, general election. Alabama’s current constitution has been in effect since 1901. It contains outdated language and has been amended nearly 1,000 times. If approved, the reorganized state constitution will be titled the Constitution of Alabama of 2022. In 2022, all members of the Legislature agreed to this proposed reorganized constitution and put it on the ballot for voters to consider. The Constitution of Alabama of 2022 will only do the following: (1) rearrange the constitution so that similar subjects are located together; (2) remove racist language; (3) delete repeated or repealed portions/language; (4) place all amendments which deal with economic development together; and (5) arrange local amendments by county. The reorganized constitution will make no changes other than those listed above and will not make any changes relating to taxes. If the majority of voters vote “yes” on the reorganized constitution, the Constitution of 2022 will replace the Constitution of 1901 as the governing document for the State. If the majority of voters vote “no” on the reorganized constitution, the Constitution of 1901, as amended, will remain the governing document for the State. There are no costs to adopting the reorganized constitution. The authority for the adoption of this reorganized constitution is in Amendment 951 to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, which was approved by voters on November 3, 2020. Amendment 951 set out the process for a committee, with public input, to draft this proposed reorganized constitution. In Act 2022-111, the Legislature approved the committee’s proposed draft and placed it on the November 2022 general election ballot for final consideration by voters to become the reorganized Constitution of Alabama of 2022. ”

Constitutional changes

See also: Alabama Constitution

Approval of the measure ratified a recompiled state constitution called the Alabama Constitution of 2022. The following is the new updated state constitution, including local constitutional amendments:

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2022

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 34, and the FRE is 42. The word count for the ballot title is 58.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• State Rep. Merika Coleman (D)
• State Rep. Anthony Daniels (D)
• State Rep. Barbara Drummond (D)
• State Rep. Danny Garrett (R)
• State Rep. Mac McCutcheon (R)
• State Rep. Ben Robbins (R)

Organizations

• Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform
• Southern Poverty Law Center

Arguments

• House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R): "For several years, we’ve been working on cleaning up the Constitution and the wording in it, and this will move us forward with helping to accomplish that. There is some racist terminology in there and this is going to address some of that."
• Marva Douglas, a member of Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform: "I am tired of being treated as a second-class citizen, and terms like ‘colored’ that are throughout the Constitution play a part in that feeling."
• Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform: "The main objectives of the framers of the 1901 Constitution were to remove the voting rights of African-Americans and poor whites in Alabama while centralizing power in the hands of a few special interests in Montgomery. These goals were achieved with astounding success. By 1903, the number of African-American citizens registered to vote had dropped from 181,000 to less than 4,000, and over 40,000 white citizens had lost their right to vote as well. Although the infamous voting restrictions of 1901 were overturned by federal courts, evidence of this embarrassing legacy still remains in our Constitution today, and the centralization of power remains as strong as ever."
• Shay Farley, regional policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center: "The language in the state Constitution matters; it’s a stated commitment to ourselves and our operations with one another. It also is a public projection of our values to those who seek to do business here or to one day make Alabama their home. ... We must remove the lingering vestiges of racial segregation and legalized oppression of Alabama’s Black residents. Revising this Jim Crow constitution will not only herald our collective rejection of white supremacy, it will remove harmful impediments that stand in the way of our people and communities."
• State Rep. Merika Coleman: "It sends a message out about who we are. It is important for us to let folks know we are a 21st century Alabama, that we’re not the same Alabama of 1901 that didn’t want Black and white folks to get married, that didn’t think that Black and white children should go to school together. On the economic development side, we also want folks to know we’re open for business. We want people to come to the state of Alabama, spend your tax dollars, and that we again are a state that is this 21st century state, all kinds of different people, all kinds of different cultures, and we do not reflect what was in that 1901 constitution."
• State Rep. Danny Garrett: "I think words matter. And I think we need to just clean the constitution up, make it a document that is relevant today. We have a history that we’re trying to address. And we’re trying to move from the past to the future. And I think this is an obstacle in many ways. I think it’s important that as a state with our history that we acknowledge where we want to go. And where we want to go is not where we’ve been necessarily."
• Steve Murray, director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History: "There were legitimate political challenges in the form of the populists who came close to actually winning important elections in state government in the 1890s. So the adoption of this document in 1901 was intended to legally shrink the electorate and consolidate power."
• Megan Thompson of PBS News Hour: "To write the new constitution, 155 white men gathered in Montgomery in May 1901. John Knox, the president of the convention, made their goal clear: 'to establish white supremacy in this state.' Today, the offensive sections on race are no longer in force. They've been struck down by amendment, federal law and the Supreme Court. But the racist language is still sitting in the document. And other sections that are in force still contain references to the poll tax and school segregation."
• Evan Milligan, Executive Director of Alabama Forward: "The way that this system was designed, the racial, lens of it. And that's still very real here as far as every metric."

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not identify committees, organizations, or individuals opposing the ballot initiative. If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Alabama ballot measures

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Ballotpedia has not identified political action committees registered to support or oppose this measure. If you are aware of one, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

Amendment 4 of 2020

See also: Alabama Amendment 4, Authorize Legislature to Recompile the State Constitution Measure (2020)

Amendment 4 was on the 2020 ballot in Alabama and approved by a vote of 67% to 33%. Amendment 4 authorized the Alabama State Legislature to recompile the state constitution during the 2022 state legislative session and provide for its ratification.

Authorized changes to the constitution included:

• arranging it in proper articles, parts, and sections;
• removing all racist language;
• deleting duplicative and repealed provisions;
• consolidating provisions regarding economic development; and
• arranging all local amendments by county of application.

Amendment 4 of 2020 was introduced as House Bill 328 by Rep. Merika Coleman (D-57) on April 3, 2019. On April 25, 2019, the House passed the amendment unanimously (101-0) with three representatives (two Republicans and one Democrat) absent or not voting. The measure was amended and passed in the Senate unanimously (30-0) with five senators (three Republicans and two Democrats) absent or not voting. On May 23, 2019, the House approved the bill unanimously (97-0) with seven representatives (four Republicans and three Democrats) absent or not voting.

Speaking about the motivation behind Amendment 4, legislative sponsor Merika Coleman said, "We’ve gotten a lot of very bad national attention lately. If this amendment passes, it would send a message to the nation that we are no longer the Alabama of 1901. We are the Alabama that condemns the spirit of discrimination with which this constitution was actually developed."

The following sections that appeared in the Constitution of Alabama of 1901 were removed:

• Section 32 of Article I: "That no form of slavery shall exist in this state; and there shall not be any involuntary servitude, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, of which the party shall have been duly convicted."

• Section 102 of Article IV: "The Legislature shall never pass any law to authorize or legalize any marriage between any white person and a Negro, or descendant of a negro."

• Section 256 of Article XIV: "Separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race" and "To avoid confusion and disorder and to promote effective and economical planning for education, the legislature may authorize the parents or guardians of minors, who desire that such minors shall attend schools provided for their own race, to make election to that end, such election to be effective for such period and to such extent as the legislature may provide."

• Section 259 of Article XIV: "All poll taxes collected in this state shall be applied to the support and furtherance of education in the respective counties where collected."

The Alabama Constitution

Alabama had six constitutions prior to the Alabama Constitution of 2022, the first of which was adopted in 1819. Other constitutions included those from the years 1861, 1865, 1868, 1875, and 1901.

Amending the Alabama Constitution

See also: Article XVIII of the Alabama Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Alabama

Article XVIII of the Alabama Constitution includes provisions regarding how the state constitution may be amended. If three-fifths of the Alabama state legislators approve a proposed constitutional amendment, it is put on the ballot where voters must approve it by a simple majority. If both chambers of the state legislature agree by a simple majority vote, then a ballot question about whether to have a statewide constitutional convention can be placed on the ballot; if that question is approved by a majority of those voting in that election, then a constitutional convention will be called.

According to law professor Susan Pace Hamill—in an article on the Encyclopedia of Alabama—the Alabama state constitution is the longest constitution in the world. The constitution had been, as of 2021, amended 977 times since 1901. Many of the amendments are local amendments affecting a single county but are located in the state constitution.

Local amendments in the Alabama Constitution

Prior to the passage of Amendment 3 of 2016, local constitutional amendments were voted on by the entire state of Alabama, unless a three-fifths vote of the legislature and a unanimous vote of a constitutional amendment commission determined that the amendment strictly affected or applied to only one county or jurisdiction. Thus, statewide electors often voted on issues that primarily, but not entirely, affected other counties or jurisdictions. After the passage of Amendment 3, local constitutional amendments appear before only the voters in that particular jurisdiction. Amendments to the Alabama Constitution are tacked on at the end and arranged by numbers, not counties. This constitutional amendment authorized the legislature to recompile the constitution organizing the local amendments by county.

Other state constitutions

See also: State constitution

The average length of a state constitution is about 39,000 words (compared to 7,591 words for the U.S. Constitution including its amendments). The longest state governing document is that of Alabama, which has approximately 389,000 words. It is also the most amended state constitution in the United States, with 977 amendments going into the 2022 election. The average state constitution has been amended about 115 times. The oldest state constitution still in effect is that of Massachusetts, which took effect in 1780. Prior to 2022, the newest was the Rhode Island Constitution, which was ratified by voters in 1986 after a constitutional convention was held which proposed deleting superseded language and reorganizing the state's 1843 Constitution. The Georgia Constitution is the next youngest and was ratified in 1983.

The following map shows the number of state constitutions each state has had and the year that the state's current constitution was adopted.

Constitutional amendments in Alabama, 2000-2020

From 2000 to 2020, 81 constitutional amendments appeared on the statewide ballot in Alabama. Voters approved 64 (79.0%) and rejected 17 (21.0%). The number of amendments on statewide ballots during the even-numbered years between 2000 and 2020 ranged from 4 to 15, and the average number of amendments during this period was 7.8.

Alabama constitutional amendments, 2000-2020
Total number	Approved	Approved (%)	Defeated	Defeated (%)	Even-year average	Even-year median	Even-year minimum	Even-year maximum
81	64	79.01%	17	20.99%	7.8	6.0	4	15

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Alabama Constitution

House Joint Resolution 52 referring the ratification question to the ballot was approved via a voice vote in the House on February 16, 2022, and in the Senate on February 22, 2022. At the time of the vote, the Alabama House of Representatives was composed of 74 Republicans and 28 Democrats with three vacancies, and the Alabama State Senate was composed of 27 Republicans and eight Democrats with no vacancies.

The ratification question was referred to the 2022 ballot following voter approval of Amendment 4 in 2020, which authorized the Alabama State Legislature—during the 2022 regular state legislative session—to recompile the Alabama Constitution and provide for its ratification.

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Alabama

Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in Alabama.

How to cast a vote in Alabama

Poll times In Alabama, polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. According to state law, "All polling places in areas operating on eastern time shall open and close under this section pursuant to eastern time except the county commissions in Chambers County and Lee County may by resolution provide for any polling place to be excluded from this sentence and to be open according to central time." An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Registration requirements Check your voter registration status here. Alabama requires that an applicant be a citizen of the United States who resides in Alabama. A voter must be at least 18 years old on or before Election Day. A citizen cannot have been barred from registering due to a felony conviction and cannot have been declared mentally incompetent by a court. Voters cannot register during the 14-day period preceding an election. According to the Alabama Secretary of State's website: “ You may download the State of Alabama Postcard Voter Registration Application from this site. The form can be printed on your printer, filled out, and then mailed into your local voter registration officials. Click here for more information. You may also request a postcard voter registration from this office by e-mail. Click here to request a voter registration form. Voter registration is also available from your local County Board of Registrars. Click here to get the address and phone number for the board of registrars office in your county. You may also obtain voter registration services at the following state and local government offices and agencies: Driver's licensing office County and select municipal public libraries Department of Human Resources WIC Program, Department of Public Health Medicaid Agency Department of Rehabilitation Services The postcard voter registration form is also available at: Public 4-year universities Select private 4-year universities Driver's licensing office County and select municipal public libraries Department of Human Resources WIC Program, Department of Public Health Medicaid Agency Department of Rehabilitation Services ” Automatic registration Alabama does not practice automatic voter registration. Online registration See also: Online voter registration Alabama has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registration Alabama does not allow same-day voter registration. Residency requirements To register to vote in Alabama, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible. Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States An Alabama state law, passed in 2011, requires people to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote. However, as of June 2025, the law had not been implemented. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states cannot require proof of citizenship with federal registration forms. That meant states would need to create a separate registration system for state elections in order to require proof of citizenship. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R) said the following: "That’s an election administration nightmare ... You’d have to have two sets of poll books, one for federal elections and one for state elections, and that just doesn’t make any sense to me." An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury. All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters. Verifying your registration The Alabama Secretary of State's Voter View website allows residents to check their voter registration status online. Voter ID requirements Alabama requires voters to present photo identification at the polls. The following list of accepted forms of identification was current as of September 2024. Click here for the most current information, sourced directly from the Office of the Alabama Secretary of State. “ Valid Alabama Driver’s License (not expired or has been expired less than 60 days) Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Digital Driver’s License Valid Alabama Nondriver ID (not expired or has been expired less than 60 days) Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Digital Nondriver ID Valid Alabama Photo Voter ID Card Valid State-Issued ID (Alabama or any other state) Examples Valid AL Department of Corrections Release - Temporary ID (Photo Required) Valid AL Movement/Booking Sheet from Prison/Jail System (Photo Required) Valid Pistol Permit (Photo Required) Valid Federal-Issued ID Valid US passport Valid Employee ID from Federal Government, State of Alabama, County, Municipality, Board, or other entity of this state Valid student or employee ID from a public or private college or university in the State of Alabama (including postgraduate technical or professional schools) Digital student ID from a public or private college or university in the State of Alabama (including postgraduate technical or professional schools) Valid student or employee ID issued by a state institution of higher learning in any other state Digital student ID issued by a state institution of higher learning in any other state Valid Military ID Valid Tribal ID ” A voter can obtain a free identification card from the Alabama Secretary of State, a county registrar's office, or a mobile location. The mobile location schedule can be accessed here. Voters must also provide a copy of valid photo identification when applying for an absentee ballot, with the exception of 1) voters for whom polling locations are inaccessible due to age or disability, and 2) overseas military members.

See also

2022 measures

• 2022 ballot measures
• Constitutional language on the ballot

Alabama

• Alabama ballot measures
• Alabama ballot measure laws

News and analysis

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

External links

• House Joint Resolution 52 overview
• House Joint Resolution 52 full text