Ballot Questions
1938
Question #1
State Constitutional Amendment
NYS were asked if they wanted to pass an amendment to the NYS constitution,
to change the whole NYS constitution, except for certain provisions with separate ballot questions - as proposed by the 1938 NY constitutional convention
as proposed by the most recent NYS Constitutional Convention
And the voters said: Yes!
How We Voted
YES |
|
53.88% |
|
1,521,036 New Yorkers voted Yes |
||
NO |
46.12% |
|
|
1,301,797 New Yorkers voted No |
||
2,822,833 votes determined the outcome of this ballot question.
We found out how every county voted on this ballot question, and mapped it!
Click on a county to see how its voters stood on this questionCounty:
Yes:
No:
Percent Yes:
We found out how every county voted on this ballot question, and mapped it!
Visit this page on a large screen and you'll find our map. Click on a county to see how its voters stood on this questionThis BQ Amended
Note: When voters approved of provisions, the new changes take effect on January 1st of the year after the question's appearance on the ballot
Preamble proposed for 1939
Article Preamble: • Section : Preamble
We The People of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our Freedom, in order to secure its blessings, DO ESTABLISH THIS CONSTITUTION.
Read moreI.1 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 1: Rights, privileges and franchise secured.
No member of this state shall be disfranchised, or deprived of any of the rights or privileges secured to any citizen thereof, unless by the law of the land, or the judgment of his or her peers.
Read moreI.2 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 2: Trial by jury; how waived.
Trial by jury in all cases in which it has heretofore been guaranteed by constitutional provision shall remain inviolate forever; but a jury trial may be waived by the parties in all civil cases in the manner to be prescribed by law. The legislature may provide, however, by law, that a verdict may be rendered by not less than five-sixths…
Read moreI.3 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 3: Freedom of worship; religious liberty.
The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this state to all mankind; and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his opinions on matters of religious belief; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse…
Read moreI.4 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 4: Habeas corpus.
The privilege of a writ or order of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety requires it.
Read moreI.5 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 5: Bail; fines; punishments; detention of witnesses.
Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed, nor shall cruel and unusual punishments be inflicted, nor shall witnesses be unreasonably detained.
Read moreI.6 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 6: Grand jury; protection of certain enumerated rights; waiver of immunity by public officers required.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime (except in cases of impeachment, and in cases of militia when in actual service, and the land, air and naval forces in time of war, or which this state may keep with the consent of Congress in time of peace, and in cases of petit larceny…
Read moreI.7 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 7: Compensation for taking private property; private roads; drainage of agricultural lands; excess condemnation.
a. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. b. When private property shall be taken for any public use, the compensation to be made therefor, when such compensation is not made by the state, shall be ascertained by a jury, or by the supreme court without a jury, but not with a referee other than…
Read moreI.8 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 8: Freedom of speech and press; criminal prosecutions for libel.
Every citizen may freely speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all criminal prosecutions or indictments for libels, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it…
Read moreI.9 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 9: Right to assemble and petition; divorce; lotteries; pool-selling and gambling; laws to prevent.
No law shall be passed abridging the rights of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government, or any department thereof; nor shall any divorce be granted otherwise than by due judicial proceedings; nor shall any lottery or the sale of lottery tickets, pool-selling, book-making, or any other kind of gambling hereafter be authorized or allowed within this…
Read moreI.10 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 10: Ownership of lands; allodial tenures; escheats.
The people of the state, in their right of sovereignty, possess the original and ultimate property in and to all lands within the jurisdiction of the state. All lands shall forever remain allodial so that the entire and absolute property is vested in the owners, according to the nature of their respective estates. All lands the title of which shall…
Read moreI.11 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 11: Equal protection of laws; discrimination in civil rights prohibited.
No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. No person shall, because of race, color, creed or religion, be subjected to any discrimination in his civil rights by any other person or by any firm, corporation, or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state.
Read moreI.12 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 12: Security against unreasonable searches, seizures and interceptions.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. The right of the people to…
Read moreI.13 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 13: Purchase of lands of Indians.
No purchases or contract for the sale of lands in this state, made since the fourteenth day of October, one thousand seven hundred seventy-five; or which may hereafter be made of, or with the Indians, shall be valid unless made under the authority, and with the consent of the legislature.
Read moreI.14 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 14: Common law and acts of the colonial and state legislatures.
Such parts of the common law, and of the acts of the legislature of the colony of New York, as together did form the law of the said colony, on the nineteenth day of April, one thousand seven hundred seventy-five, and the resolutions of the congress of the said colony, and of the convention of the State of New York,…
Read moreI.15 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 15: Certain grants of lands and of charters made by the king of Great Britain and the state; obligations and contracts not to be impaired.
All grants of land within this state, made by the King of Great Britain, or persons acting under his authority, after the fourteenth day of October, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, shall be null and void; but nothing contained in this Constitution shall affect any grants of land within this state, made by the authority of the said King…
Read moreI.16 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 16: Damages for injuries causing death.
The right of action now existing to recover damages for injuries resulting in death, shall never be abrogated; and the amount recoverable shall not be subject to any statutory limitation.
Read moreI.18 proposed for 1939
Article I: Bill Of Rights • Section 18: Workmen's compensation.
Nothing contained in this constitution shall be construed to limit the power of the legislature to enact laws for the protection of the lives, health, or safety of employees; or for the payment, either by employers, or by employers and employees or otherwise, either directly or through a state or other system of insurance or otherwise, of compensation for injuries…
Read moreII.1 proposed for 1939
Article II: Suffrage • Section 1: Qualifications of voters.
Every citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a citizen for ninety days, and an inhabitant of this state for one year next preceding an election, and for the last four months a resident of the county and for the last thirty days a resident of the election district to which he or she may offer…
Read moreII.2 proposed for 1939
Article II: Suffrage • Section 2: Absentee voting.
The legislature may, by general law, provide a manner in which, and the time and place at which, qualified voters who may, on the occurrence of any general election, be unavoidably absent from the state or county of their residence because they are inmates of a soldiers’ and sailors’ home or of a United States veterans’ bureau hospital, or because…
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