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1990 Arkansas Amendment 3 was a ballot measure on the November 6, 1990, general election ballot to amend the Constitution of Arkansas to repeal Amendment 44, which was intended to allow the state to nullify federal integration laws. Amendment 44 had previously been overturned in 1989 by a federal court, but was still part of the state constitution. The ballot measure passed with 50.96% of the vote, repealing Amendment 44.
In 1954, the US Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that state laws preventing racial integration are incompatible with the US Constitution. In response, the US federal government began requiring states to racially integrate their public education systems. In opposition to this ruling, the legislature of Arkansas proposed an amendment, 1956 Arkansas Amendment 47, to the Constitution of Arkansas. The amendment stated that Arkansas can interpose any federally-mandated racial integration, thereby preventing it from occurring in the state. The amendment was legislatively referred to voters, who approved it in 1956 by 56% to 44%. It was therefore incorporated into the Arkansas constitution, as Amendment 44. [2]
Amendment 44 was challenged in the 1989 legal case Dietz v. State of Arkansas, which was heard in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Judge Henry Woods ruled the amendment unconstitutional, because it violated the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution. [3] Following this, the Arkansas General Assembly referred Amendment 3 to the 1990 ballot, to remove the outdated text from the constitution. Lloyd R. George, who sponsored the amendment in the legislature, wrote that "it's terrible that it's on the books and used in a court case as reflecting on the attitude of the people of Arkansas", and strongly urged its repeal. [4] The amendment had been ignored by state officials since its passing in 1956. [5]
The amendment appeared on the ballot as follows: [6]
Amendment 44 to the Arkansas Constitution is hereby repealed.
There was no significant campaign either for or against the amendment. The Baxter Bulletin endorsed the amendment, writing that it deserves passage "even if some may only see it as a symbolic gesture". [4] The strongest opposition came from John Norman Warnock of Camden, Arkansas. Warnock, who was an active segregationist throughout the 1960s and 1970s, aired ads in the week leading up to the election urging voters to reject Amendment 3, as well as the other statewide ballot measures. [5]
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Yes | 273,527 | 50.96 |
| No | 263,261 | 49.04 |
| Total votes | 536,788 | 100.00 |
Amendment 3 passed narrowly with 50.96% of the vote. [1] The amendment's narrow margin was attributed both to white racial resentment and general unfamiliarity with the measure, as it failed in some majority black precincts. [7]
In the politics of the United States, the process of initiatives and referendums allow citizens of many U.S. states to place legislation on the ballot for a referendum or popular vote, either enacting new legislation, or voting down existing legislation. Citizens, or an organization, might start a popular initiative to gather a predetermined number of signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. The measure is placed on the ballot for the referendum, or actual vote.
Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), U.S. state constitutional amendments banning same-sex unions of several different types passed, banning legal recognition of same-sex unions in U.S. state constitutions, referred to by proponents as "defense of marriage amendments" or "marriage protection amendments." These state amendments are different from the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would ban same-sex marriage in every U.S. state, and Section 2 of the Defense of Marriage Act, more commonly known as DOMA, which allowed the states not to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. The amendments define marriage as a union between one man and one woman and prevent civil unions or same-sex marriages from being legalized, though some of the amendments bar only the latter. The Obergefell decision in June 2015 invalidated these state constitutional amendments insofar as they prevented same-sex couples from marrying, even though the actual text of these amendments remain written into the state constitutions.
The Constitution of Arkansas is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Arkansas delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government. Arkansas' original constitution was adopted at a constitutional convention held at Little Rock in advance of the territory's admission to the Union in 1836. In 1861 a constitution was adopted with succession. After the American Civil War its 1864 constitution was drafted. An 1868 constitution was passed to comply with the Reconstruction acts. The current constitution was ratified in 1874 following the Brooks–Baxter War.
California Proposition 14 was a November 1964 initiative ballot measure that amended the California state constitution to nullify the 1963 Rumford Fair Housing Act, thereby allowing property sellers, landlords and their agents to openly discriminate on ethnic grounds when selling or letting accommodations, as they had been permitted to before 1963. The proposition became law after receiving support from 65% of voters. In 1966, the California Supreme Court in a 5–2 split decision declared Proposition 14 unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that decision in 1967 in Reitman v. Mulkey.
Constitutional Amendment 2 of 1998 amended the Constitution of Hawaii, granting the state legislature the power to prevent same-sex marriage from being conducted or recognized in Hawaii. Amendment 2 was the first constitutional amendment adopted in the United States that specifically targeted same-sex partnerships.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Arkansas since the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015, striking down same-sex marriage bans nationwide. Prior to this, same-sex marriage in Arkansas was briefly legal for a period beginning on May 9, 2014, as a result of a ruling by Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Chris Piazza striking down the state's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage as violating the U.S. Constitution. Approximately 541 same-sex couples received marriage licenses in several counties before the Arkansas Supreme Court stayed his ruling pending appeal on May 16, 2014.
Cannabis in Arkansas is illegal for recreational use. First-time possession of up to four ounces (110 g) is punished with a fine of up to $2,500, imprisonment of up to a year, and a mandatory six month driver's license suspension. Medical use was legalized in 2016 by way of a ballot measure to amend the state constitution.
In the United States, the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime of which one has been convicted. In the latter 2010s, a movement has emerged to repeal the exception clause from both the federal and state constitutions.
Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 3, 1970.
Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 6, 1962.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Illinois on November 8, 2022. The elections for United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, Governor, statewide constitutional officers, Illinois Senate, and Illinois House were held on this date.
Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 4, 1958.
Elections were held in Illinois on Tuesday, November 2, 1954.
2020 Missouri Amendment 2, also known as the Medicaid Expansion Initiative, was a ballot measure to amend the Constitution of Missouri to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The initiative was on the August 4, 2020, primary ballot and passed with 53.27% of the vote. Following previous successful Medicaid expansion initiatives in other states, Republican lawmakers in Nebraska and Utah added work requirements to their states' Medicaid expansions, which supporters aimed to prevent by proposing state constitutional amendments for future Medicaid expansion initiatives. Opponents sued to prevent the initiative from being voted on, but courts ruled in the measure's favor. The measure was supported most in urban areas and opposed in rural areas. After a delay due to a lack of funding from the Missouri General Assembly and resulting litigation, the initiative was implemented in October 2021, albeit slowly. Republican lawmakers attempted to roll back the program and add a work requirement through a state constitutional amendment, which failed after the United States Supreme Court effectively prevented the implementation of one.
The 2021 New York state elections were held on November 2, 2021. In addition to the standard local elections, many seats for the New York Supreme Court were to be filled in addition to ballot proposals regarding changing state electoral rules and court limits.
The following is a list of ballot measures, whether initiated by legislators or citizens, which had been certified to appear on various states' ballots during the 2024 United States elections. Those which did not make on the ballot are included on the page but their status is noted that they did not appear on the ballot.
