Ballot Questions
1846
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 - as proposed by the 1846 NY constitutional convention
as proposed by the most recent NYS Constitutional Convention
And the voters said: Yes!
How We Voted
YES |
|
70.56% |
|
221,528 New Yorkers voted Yes |
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NO |
29.44% |
|
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92,436 New Yorkers voted No |
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313,964 votes determined the outcome of this ballot question.
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 1847
• 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 1847
• 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 1847
• Section 2: Trial by jury preserved.
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 1847
• Section 3: 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 1847
• 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 1847
• Section 5: Excessive bail, fines, and punishment 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 1847
• Section 6: Rights of accused in criminal cases; taking private property for public use.
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 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…
Read moreI.7 proposed for 1847
• Section 7: Compensation for private property, how ascertained; private roads.
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 not less than three commissioners appointed by a court of record, as shall be prescribed by law. Private roads may be opened in the manner to be…
Read moreI.8 proposed for 1847
• 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 1847
• Section 9: Two-thirds bills.
The assent of two thirds of the members elected to each branch of the legislature shall be requisite to every bill appropriating the public moneys or property for local or private purposes.
Read moreI.10 proposed for 1847
• Section 10: 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 hereafter be authorized, or any sale of lottery tickets allowed within this state.
Read moreI.11 proposed for 1847
• Section 11: 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.12 proposed for 1847
• Section 12: 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.13 proposed for 1847
• Section 13: 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.14 proposed for 1847
• Section 14: 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.15 proposed for 1847
• Section 15: Restraints on alienation prohibited.
All fines, quarter sales, or other like restraints upon alienations, reserved in any grant of land hereafter to be made, shall be void.
Read moreI.16 proposed for 1847
• Section 16: 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.
Read moreI.17 proposed for 1847
• Section 17: Conmon 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 the said colony on the nineteenth day of April, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, and the resolutions of the congress of the said colony, and of the convention of the state of New…
Read moreI.18 proposed for 1847
• Section 18: 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 moreII.1 proposed for 1847
• Section 1: Qualifications of voters.
Every male citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a citizen for ten days, and an inhabitant of this state one year next preceding any election, and for the last four months a resident of the county where he may offer his vote, shall be entitled to vote at such election, in the election district of…
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