Ballot Questions
1869
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 1867 NY constitutional convention
as proposed by the most recent NYS Constitutional Convention
And the voters said: No!
How We Voted
YES |
43.53% |
|
|
223,935 New Yorkers voted Yes |
||
NO |
|
56.47% |
|
290,456 New Yorkers voted No |
||
514,391 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 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 1870
• 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 1870
• 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 1870
• Section 2: Trial by jury preserved.
The trial by jury in all cases in which it has heretofore been used shall remain inviolate forever ; except that in suits in justices’ courts provision may be made by law for trial by a jury of less than twelve men, but a jury trial may be waived by the parties in all civil cases.
Read moreI.3 proposed for 1870
• 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; and no person shall be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious belief; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with…
Read moreI.4 proposed for 1870
• 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 1870
• 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 1870
• 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, unless on indictment by a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment, and in cases arising in the militia when in actual service, and in the land and naval forces in time of war, or in the forces which the State may keep with the consent…
Read moreI.7 proposed for 1870
• 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 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 prescribed…
Read moreI.8 proposed for 1870
• 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 for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury ; and if it…
Read moreI.9 proposed for 1870
• Section 9: No unreasonable seizure or searches.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable seizures and searches, shall not be violated ; and no warrant shall issue without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons and things to be seized.
Read moreI.10 proposed for 1870
• Section 10: Right to assemble and petition.
No law shall be passed abridging the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government or any department thereof.
Read moreI.11 proposed for 1870
• 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 1870
• 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 1870
• Section 13: Absolute ownership of estates.
All lands within the 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 1870
• Section 14: Leases of agricultural lands limited.
No lease or grant of agricultural land hereafter made for a longer period than twenty years, in which is reserved any rent or service, shall be valid.
Read moreI.15 proposed for 1870
• Section 15: 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.16 proposed for 1870
• Section 16: 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 laws 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.17 proposed for 1870
• Section 17: Royal grants and charters preserved.
Grants of land within the 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 in this Constitution shall affect any grants of land made by the authority of the said king or his predecessors, or…
Read moreI.18 proposed for 1870
• Section 18: Indian lands.
No purchase of lands, or contract for the sale thereof, 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.19 proposed for 1870
• Section 19: Fish.
The right to take fish, in any of the international waters bordering on this State, shall not be denied or restrained.
Read more