Ballot Questions
1894
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 1894 NY constitutional convention
as proposed by the most recent NYS Constitutional Convention
And the voters said: Yes!
How We Voted
YES |
|
55.64% |
|
410,697 New Yorkers voted Yes |
||
NO |
44.36% |
|
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327,402 New Yorkers voted No |
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738,099 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
VI.15 proposed for 1895
Article VI: Judiciary • Section 15: Surrogates' Courts.
The existing surrogates’ courts are continued, and the surrogates now in office shall hold their offices until the expiration of their terms. Their successors shall be chosen by the electors of their respective counties, and their terms of office shall be six years, except in the county of New York, where they shall continue to be fourteen years. Surrogates and…
Read moreVI.16 proposed for 1895
Article VI: Judiciary • Section 16: Local judicial officers.
The Legislature may, on application of the board of supervisors, provide for the election of local officers, not to exceed two in any county, to discharge the duties of county judge and of surrogate, in cases of their inability or of a vacancy, and in such other cases as may be provided by law, and to exercise such other powers…
Read moreVI.17 proposed for 1895
Article VI: Judiciary • Section 17: Justices of the peace.
The electors of the several towns shall, at their annual town meetings, or at such other time and in such manner as the Legislature may direct, elect justices of the peace, whose term of office shall be four years. In case of an election to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of a full term, they shall hold for…
Read moreVI.18 proposed for 1895
Article VI: Judiciary • Section 18: Inferior local courts.
Inferior local courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction may be established by the Legislature, but no inferior local court hereafter created shall be a court of record. The Legislature shall not hereafter confer upon any inferior or local court of its creation, any equity jurisdiction, or any greater jurisdiction in other respects than is conferred upon county courts by or…
Read moreVI.19 proposed for 1895
Article VI: Judiciary • Section 19: Clerks of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
Clerks of the several counties shall be clerks of the supreme court, with such powers and duties as shall be prescribed by law. The justices of the appellate division in each department shall have power to appoint and to remove a clerk, who shall keep his office at a place to be designated by said justices. The clerk of the…
Read moreVI.20 proposed for 1895
Article VI: Judiciary • Section 20: No judicial officer except justice of the peace to receive fees.
No judicial officer, except justices of the peace, shall receive to his own use any fees or perquisites of office; nor shall any judge of the court of appeals, or justice of the supreme court, or any county judge or surrogate hereafter elected in a county having a population exceeding one hundred and twenty thousand, practise as an attorney or…
Read moreVI.21 proposed for 1895
Article VI: Judiciary • Section 21: Publication of statutes to be provided for.
The Legislature shall provide for the speedy publication of all statutes, and shall regulate the reporting of the decisions of the courts; but all laws and judicial decisions shall be free for publication by any person.
Read moreVI.22 proposed for 1895
Article VI: Judiciary • Section 22: Local judicial officers.
Justices of the peace and other local judicial officers provided for in sections seventeen and eighteen, in office when this article takes effect, shall hold their offices until the expiration of their respective terms.
Read moreVI.23 proposed for 1895
Article VI: Judiciary • Section 23: Courts of Special Sessions.
Courts of special sessions shall have such jurisdiction of offenses of the grade of misdemeanors as may be prescribed by law.
Read moreVII.1 proposed for 1895
Article VII: State Finance; Forest Preserve; Canals • Section 1: State credit not to be loaned.
The credit of the State shall not in any manner be given or loaned to or in aid of any individual, association, or corporation.
Read moreVII.2 proposed for 1895
Article VII: State Finance; Forest Preserve; Canals • Section 2: Power to contract debts.
The State may, to meet casual deficits or failures in revenues, or for expenses not provided for, contract debts; but such debts, direct or contingent, singly or in the aggregate, shall not at any time exceed one million of dollars; and the moneys arising from the loans creating such debts shall be applied to the purpose for which they were…
Read moreVII.3 proposed for 1895
Article VII: State Finance; Forest Preserve; Canals • Section 3: Debts to repel invasion.
In addition to the above limited power to contract debts, the State may contract debts to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State in war; but the money arising from the contracting of such debts shall be applied to the purpose for which it was raised, or to repay such debts, and to no other purpose whatever.
Read moreVII.4 proposed for 1895
Article VII: State Finance; Forest Preserve; Canals • Section 4: Limitation of legislative power in the creation of debts.
Except the debts specified in sections two and three of this article, no debts shall be hereafter contracted by or on behalf of this State, unless such debt shall be authorized by a law, for some single work or object, to be distinctly specified therein; and such law shall impose and provide for the collection of a direct annual tax…
Read moreVII.5 proposed for 1895
Article VII: State Finance; Forest Preserve; Canals • Section 5: Sinking funds.
The sinking funds provided for the payment of interest and the extinguishment of the principal of the debts of the State shall be separately kept and safely invested, and neither of them shall be appropriated or used in any manner other than for the specific purpose for which it shall have been provided.
Read moreVII.6 proposed for 1895
Article VII: State Finance; Forest Preserve; Canals • Section 6: Claims.
Neither the Legislature, canal board, nor any person or persons acting in behalf of the State, shall audit, allow, or pay any claim which, as between citizens of the State, would be barred by lapse of time. This provision shall not be construed to repeal any statute fixing the time within which claims shall be presented or allowed, nor shall…
Read moreVII.7 proposed for 1895
Article VII: State Finance; Forest Preserve; Canals • Section 7: Forest preserve.
The lands of the State, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold, or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed, or destroyed.
Read moreVII.8 proposed for 1895
Article VII: State Finance; Forest Preserve; Canals • Section 8: Certain canals not to be leased or sold.
The Legislature shall not sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the Erie canal, the Oswego canal, the Champlain canal, the Cayuga and Seneca canal, or the Black River canal: but they shall remain the property of the State and under its management forever. The prohibition of lease, sale, or other disposition herein contained shall not apply to the canal known…
Read moreVIII.1 proposed for 1895
Article VIII: Corporations and Charities • Section 1: Corporations, how created.
Corporations may be formed under general laws; but shall not be created by special act, except for municipal purposes, and in cases where, in the judgment of the Legislature, the objects of the corporation cannot be attained under general laws. All general laws and special acts passed pursuant to this section may be altered from time to time or repealed.
Read moreVIII.2 proposed for 1895
Article VIII: Corporations and Charities • Section 2: Debts of corporations.
Dues from corporations shall be secured by such individual liability of the corporators and other means as may be prescribed by law.
Read moreVIII.3 proposed for 1895
Article VIII: Corporations and Charities • Section 3: "Corporations" defined.
The term corporations, as used in this article, shall be construed to include all associations and joint-stock companies having any of the powers or privileges of corporations not possessed by individuals or partnerships. And all corporation shall have the right to sue and shall be subject to be sued in all courts in like cases as natural persons.
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