Article X, Iowa Constitution

Iowa Constitution
Preamble
Articles
I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI • XII

Article X of the Iowa Constitution is labeled Amendments to the Constitution. It governs the ways in which the state's constitution can be changed over time.

Article X allows:

• Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments. For the Iowa General Assembly to place a proposed amendment on the ballot, these conditions must occur:

• Two successive general assemblies must vote to put the proposed amendment on a statewide ballot, by majority votes.
• Amendments can be proposed in either chamber.
• Once an amendment is on the ballot, in order to become part of the constitution, it must be approved by "a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the general assembly, voting thereon."

• Constitutional conventions, under these conditions:

• Starting in 1970, a question as to whether to hold a constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the ballot every ten years.
• The Iowa General Assembly can also vote to put a constitutional convention question on a statewide ballot at other times.

Section 1

Text: "How proposed--submission" Any amendment or amendments to this constitution may be proposed in either house of the general assembly; and if the same shall be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendment shall be entered on their journals, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred to the legislature to be chosen at the next general election, and shall be published, as provided by law, for three months previous to the time of making such choice; and if, in the general assembly so next chosen as aforesaid, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to, by a majority of all the members elected to each house, then it shall be the duty of the general assembly to submit such proposed amendment or amendments to the people, in such manner, and at such time as the general assembly shall provide; and if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, by a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the general assembly, voting thereon, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of the constitution of this state.

Statutory provisions relating to this Section are found in the Iowa Code, §49.43 to 49.50, and 49A.1 to 49A.11.

Section 2

	Text: "More than one amendment" If two or more amendments shall be submitted at the same time, they shall be submitted in such manner that the electors shall vote for or against each of such amendments separately.

Section 3

Text: "Constitutional convention" At the general election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy, and in each tenth year thereafter, and also at such times as the general assembly may, by law, provide, the question, "Shall there be a convention to revise the constitution, and propose amendment or amendments to same?" shall be decided by the electors qualified to vote for members of the general assembly; and in case a majority of the electors so qualified, voting at such election, for and against such proposition, shall decide in favor of a convention for such purpose, the general assembly, at its next session, shall provide by law for the election of delegates to such convention, and for submitting the results of said convention to the people, in such manner and at such time as the general assembly shall provide; and if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments, by a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the general assembly, voting thereon, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of the constitution of this state. If two or more amendments shall be submitted at the same time, they shall be submitted in such a manner that electors may vote for or against each such amendment separately.

Section 3 was repealed and re-written in 1964 with the approval of Iowa Constitutional Amendment 22 (1964).

See also

• State constitution
• Constitutional article
• Constitutional amendment
• Constitutional revision
• Constitutional convention
• Amendments
  • Initiated constitutional amendment
  • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment
  • Publication requirements for proposed state constitutional amendments
  • Rules about constitutional conventions in state constitutions
  • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures

External links

Suggest a link

• Iowa.gov, "Iowa Constitution"
• Iowa.gov, "Amendments to the Constitution of Iowa"

Additional reading

• Iowa, Benjamin Franklin Shambaugh (1902). The Constitution of the State Of Iowa, State Historical Society of Iowa
• Stark, Jack (1998). The Iowa State Constitution: A Reference Guide, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press