Ballot Questions
1915
Question #4
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 1915 NY constitutional convention
as proposed by the most recent NYS Constitutional Convention
And the voters said: No!
How We Voted
YES |
30.55% |
|
|
400,423 New Yorkers voted Yes |
||
NO |
|
69.45% |
|
910,462 New Yorkers voted No |
||
1,310,885 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 Would Have 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 1916
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 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 1: Rights of citizens.
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 peers.
Read moreI.2 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 2: Trial by jury.
The trial by jury in all cases in which it has been heretofore used 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.
Read moreI.3 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 3: Religious toleration.
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 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 4: When writ of habeas corpus not to be suspended.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require its suspension.
Read moreI.5 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 5: Excessive bail, fines, and punishments prohibited; rights of witness.
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 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 6: Rights of accused in criminal cases; taking private property for public use.
Except in cases of impeachment, and in cases of militia when in actual service, and the land 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, under the regulation of the legislature, no person shall be held to answer for a…
Read moreI.7 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 7: Compensation for private property, how ascertained; private roads; drainage.
(a) 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 the supreme court without a jury, but not with a referee, or by one or more supreme court commissioners or, within the third and fourth judicial departments and such part…
Read moreI.8 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 8: Freedom of speech and press; evidence in libel cases.
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 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 9: Right to assemble and petition; divorces; lotteries prohibited.
No law shall be passed abridging the right 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 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 10: Sovereignty in real property; escheats.
The people of this state, in their right of sovereignty, are deemed to possess the original and ultimate property in and to all lands within the jurisdiction of the state; and all lands the title to which shall fail, from a defect of heirs, shall revert, or escheat to the people.
Read moreI.11 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 11: Feudal tenures abolished.
All feudal tenures of every description, with all their incidents, are declared to be abolished, saving however, all rents and services certain which at any time heretofore have been lawfully created or reserved.
Read moreI.12 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 12: Absolute ownership of estates.
All lands within this state are declared to be allodial, so that, subject only to the liability to escheat, the entire and absolute property is vested in the owners, according to the nature of their respective estates.
Read moreI.13 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 13: Leases of agricultural lands limited.
No lease or grant of agricultural land, for a longer period than twelve years, hereafter made, in which shall be reserved any rent or service of any kind, shall be valid.
Read moreI.14 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 14: Restraints on alienation prohibited.
All fines, quarter-sales, or other like restraints upon alienation, reserved in any grant of land hereafter to be made, shall be void.
Read moreI.15 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 15: Indian lands.
No purchase or contract for the sale of lands in this state, made since the fourteenth day of October, one thousand seven hundred and 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. The peacemakers’ courts of the Tonawanda nation, the peacemakers’…
Read moreI.16 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 16: Common law continued.
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 such colony, on the nineteenth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and the resolutions of the congress of such colony, and of the convention of the state of New York, in…
Read moreI.17 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 17: Royal grants and charters preserved.
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.18 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights • Section 18: Damages for injuries causing death.
Except in the cases provided for in the next section, 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.19 proposed for 1916
Article I: Civil rights
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…
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