Constitutional amendments from 2006 through 2023

Every state but Delaware requires voters to ratify proposed state constitutional amendments—changes to a state's constitution. From 2006 through 2023, a total of 1,171 constitutional amendments were proposed and put before voters. Of this total, voters approved 846 proposed changes to state constitutions. This article is an analysis of state constitutional amendments of statewide applicability put before voters during this period.

Note: In 2022 in Alabama, voters ratified a recompiled and updated state constitution, the Constitution of Alabama of 2022. In this report, this constitution ratification question is not counted as a constitutional amendment.

There are four ways that proposed constitutional amendments can be proposed and put on the ballot in most states:

• Through legislatively referred constitutional amendments.
• Through initiated constitutional amendments put on the ballot through a citizen signature petition. Eighteen states allow this method of amendment. The requirements in several of these states, such as Illinois and Mississippi, are difficult and rarely used.
• Through constitutional conventions. In some states, automatic ballot referrals allow voters to decide at regular intervals whether to hold a convention.
• In Florida, there is a commission-referred amendment process.

Overview

HIGHLIGHTS

In 2023, 32 constitutional amendments were on the ballot in six states, of which, 27 (84.38%) were approved. The year 2023 featured the most constitutional amendments on the ballot in an odd-numbered year since at least 2007. From 2007 through 2023, the average number of constitutional amendments was 23 and the average approval rate was 81.47%.

In 2022, 99 constitutional amendments were on the ballot in 34 states, of which 70 (70.71%) were approved and 29 (29.29%) were defeated.

In Alabama, voters ratified a recompiled and updated state constitution, the Constitution of Alabama of 2022.

In 2021, 24 constitutional amendments were on the ballot in seven states. One was initiated by citizens in Colorado and the other 23 were referred by state legislatures. Of the 24 measures, 16 were approved and eight were defeated.

In 2020, a total of 84 constitutional amendments were proposed and voted on in 29 states. Of the 84 proposed amendments, 69 were referred by state legislatures and 15 were initiated by citizens. Of the 84 amendments, 62 (73.8%) were approved.

In 2019, a total of 19 constitutional amendments were proposed and voted on in 7 states. All 19 proposed amendments were referred by state legislatures. Texas was the state with the most constitutional amendments with 10 proposed and all but one approved.

In 2019, voters in Pennsylvania approved a Marsy's Law Crime Victims Rights Amendment with 74% of the vote. However, the Secretary of the State received a court order not to certify the results at the time of election because the constitutionality of the amendment was still being litigated. Excluding the result of Pennsylvania's Marsy's Law Amendment, 83.3% of the proposed amendments in 2019 were approved.

For the second time in at least 132 years, all constitutional amendments on the ballot in 2017 were approved; the only other year was 1947.

The following map shows the number of constitutional amendments ratified in each state from 2006 through 2023, with states featuring more constitutional changes in a darker shade:

State breakdown

Most active states

States with both initiated constitutional amendments and legislatively referred constitutional amendments:

Among states with a process for initiated constitutional amendments, Colorado and Florida featured the most proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot from 2006 through 2022, with a total of 56 and 59, respectively. Of that total, Florida voters approved 37, and Colorado voters approved 23. States with initiated amendments featured an average of 29 proposed constitutional changes, of which an average of around 18 were approved. Colorado has required a 55% supermajority vote to adopt constitutional amendments since 2016. In Florida, a 60% supermajority vote is required for a proposed constitutional amendment to be adopted.

States without initiated constitutional amendments):

All states:

Among all 50 states, Louisiana featured the most proposed constitutional amendments and the most approved amendments. States featured an average of 23 constitutional amendments on the ballot from 2006 through 2023. Across all states, an average of 16 amendments were approved.

Below are lists of the states with the most proposed amendments (on the left) and the states with the most approved amendments (on the right). In the lists, states that feature a process for initiated constitutional amendments are bolded.

States with the most amendments on the ballot:

• Louisiana: 127
• Texas: 96
• Alabama: 72
• Florida: 59
• Colorado: 56
• California: 54
• Oklahoma: 40

States with the most approved amendments:

• Louisiana: 90
• Texas: 91
• Alabama: 60
• Florida: 37
• Oklahoma: 29
• California: 28
• New Mexico: 28

Active and least active, by year

While even election years see a higher number of proposed constitutional amendments, off-year election years have some proposed constitutional amendments as well. Since 2006, the even year with the most proposed amendments on the ballot was 2006 with 145, and the year with the least amount of proposals was 2020, which had 84 proposals. The number of constitutional amendments on the ballot in even-numbered years was above 100 between 2006 and 2012 (ranging from 109 to 145). From 2014 to 2022, the highest number of constitutional amendments on the ballot was 99 (ranging from 84 to 99).

In the off-year election cycles, 2017 had the least at 17 proposed amendments on the ballot, and 2007 had the most at 31. However, there were four states with proposals in 2013 and eight states with proposals in 2007. Texas had 10 proposed amendments in 2019, the most of any state that year, and Texas had 17 in 2007, the most of any state in that year.

Since even-year election cycles are more typical and often coincide with candidate elections, they ordinarily generate a higher voter turnout compared to off-year elections or special election years.

States with the highest amendment proposals

Louisiana and Texas had the highest number of proposed constitutional amendments from 2006 through 2023. In total, Louisiana had 127 amendments on the ballot in that time period and Texas had 96. Texas and Louisiana are states that do not allow amendments initiated by voters.

States with the fewest amendment proposals

While Texas and Louisiana lead the country in proposed constitutional amendments from 2006 through 2023, Delaware had zero proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot during this period. Massachusetts had one constitutional amendment on the ballot and approved in 2022. Alaska had two, one appearing on the ballot in 2010 and the other appearing on the ballot in 2016. Vermont had 3 proposed amendments during this period which appeared on the ballot in 2010 and 2022.

States with initiatives vs. states without

Eighteen states allow initiated constitutional amendments. Among those states, approval rates for proposed initiatives are lower than in states that only allow legislatively referred amendments and amendments proposed by constitutional conventions.

• 72.25% (846 of 1,171) of proposed amendments were approved across all states, including both initiated constitutional amendments and legislatively referred constitutional amendments.
• 61.03% (321 of 526) of proposed amendments were approved across states with both initiated constitutional amendments and legislatively referred constitutional amendments.
• 81.40% (525 of 645) of proposed amendments were approved across states without a process for initiated constitutional amendments and that only have legislatively or convention referred amendments.

Initiated constitutional amendments

See also: Initiated constitutional amendment and Colorado Amendment 71

Of the twenty-six states that have either the power of ballot initiative, veto referendum, or both, 18 of them have a provision for initiated constitutional amendments, or amendments proposed by voters. Those states are as follows:

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Florida
• Illinois
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Mississippi

• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• South Dakota

Among states with a process for initiated constitutional amendments, Colorado and Florida featured the most proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot from 2006 through 2023, with a total of 56 and 59, respectively. Of that total, Florida voters approved 37, and Colorado voters approved 23. States with initiated amendments featured an average of 29 proposed constitutional changes, of which an average of around 18 were approved. In the 2016 election, Amendment 71 changed requirements that govern the process in the state to (1) require initiative petitioners to spread out signature gathering efforts across all of the state's 35 senate districts, making it more difficult to collect enough signatures to qualify a constitutional amendment for the ballot, and (2) impose a 55 percent supermajority requirement for proposed constitutional amendments. This was expected to decrease the number of constitutional amendments put on the ballot through the initiative process. Three citizen-initiated constitutional amendments appeared on Colorado's ballot in 2018, two were on the ballot in 2020, and one was on the ballot in 2021, while none were on the ballot in 2022 or 2023.

Of states with initiated constitutional amendments, Florida had the most proposed amendments on the ballot at 59, with 17 of them getting on the ballot through citizen initiative petitions.

Approval rates

Statistically, from 2006 through 2023, odd-year election cycles featured a higher approval rate for proposed constitutional amendments than even years. In 2007, 28 of the 31 proposed amendments were approved, for a rate of 90%. In 2013, amendments passed at a rate of 89%. In 2017, all 17 amendments on the ballot were approved, for the highest approval rate since 1947. Only one of the proposed amendments was put on the ballot through a citizen initiative petition. In contrast, 2006 and 2022, the even-numbered years with the highest approval rates, had rates of 74.5% and 73.81%, respectively.

By year

Odd-year averages:

Total measures on the ballot: 23

Approved: 18

Defeated: 4

Average approval rate: 81.47%

Even-year averages:

Total measures on the ballot: 107

Approved: 76

Defeated: 31

Average approval rate: 70.32%

Below is a table showing the overall approval rates of constitutional amendments by year.

Year	Approved	Defeated	Total	Approval rate
2006	108	37	145	74.48%
2007	28	3	31	90.32%
2008	69	40	109	63.30%
2009	17	4	21	80.95%
2010	88	35	123	71.54%
2011	18	7	25	72.00%
2012	76	40	116	65.52%
2013	16	2	18	88.89%
2014	66	32	98	67.35%
2015	12	6	18	66.67%
2016	69	25	94	73.40%
2017	17	0	17	100.00%
2018	72	27	99	72.73%
2019	15	4	19	83.33%
2020	62	22	84	73.81%
2021	16	8	24	66.67%
2022	66	33	99	70.71%
2023	27	5	32	84.38%
Odd-year average	22.66	4.33	22.78	81.47%
Even-year average	75.11	32.33	107.44	70.32%

By state

Individually, from 2006 through 2023, seven states saw 100% of the proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot pass. Of these, Maryland featured the most amendments, a total of 15.

State	Proposed amendments	Approved amendments	Approval rate
Indiana	3	3	100%
Iowa	2	2	100%
Massachusetts	1	1	100%
Maryland	21	21	100%
Pennsylvania	8	8	100%
Tennessee	7	7	100%
Vermont	3	3	100%

Two states—Alaska, Delaware, and—had either zero proposed amendments or approval rates of 0 percent. Delaware and had no proposals at all, Alaska had two—of which none were approved.

Below is a table showing all 50 states and the total number of proposed constitutional amendments and each states overall approval rate for the period from 2006 through 2023. States with an asterisk feature a process for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments. Click show to [expand] the table.

State	Proposed amendments	Approved amendments	Approval rate
Alabama	72	60	83.33%
Alaska*	2	0	0.00%
Arizona*	40	24	60.00%
Arkansas*	26	19	73.08%
California*	54	28	51.85%
Colorado*	56	23	41.07%
Connecticut	5	4	80.00%
Delaware	0	0	0.00%
Florida*	59	37	62.71%
Georgia	28	24	85.71%
Hawaii	17	10	58.82%
Idaho*	12	11	91.67%
Illinois*	7	5	71.43%
Indiana	3	3	100.00%
Iowa	3	3	100.00%
Kansas	9	7	77.78%
Kentucky	6	3	50.00%
Louisiana	127	90	70.875%
Maine*	10	7	70.00%
Maryland*	21	21	100.00%
Massachusetts*	1	1	100.00%
Michigan*	18	12	66.67%
Minnesota	5	3	60.00%
Mississippi*	8	5	62.50%
Missouri*	37	27	72.97%
Montana*	9	6	66.67%
Nebraska*	23	13	56.52%
Nevada*	30	19	63.33%
New Hampshire	7	4	57.14%
New Jersey	23	19	82.61%
New Mexico*	32	28	87.50%
New York	21	17	80.95%
North Carolina	9	7	77.78%
North Dakota*	27	17	62.96%
Ohio*	26	18	69.23%
Oklahoma*	40	29	72.50%
Oregon*	37	25	67.57%
Pennsylvania	8	8	100.00%
Rhode Island	7	5	71.43%
South Carolina	20	17	85.00%
South Dakota*	28	13	46.43%
Tennessee	11	11	100.00%
Texas	96	91	94.79%
Utah*	29	24	82.76%
Vermont	3	3	100.00%
Virginia	15	14	93.33%
Washington*	14	12	85.71%
West Virginia	9	4	44.44%
Wisconsin	8	7	87.50%
Wyoming*	13	8	61.54%

Data

Below is the collected raw data for constitutional amendments from 2006 through 2021. States with an asterisk (*) have a process for initiative and/or veto referendum. Maryland and New Mexico have only veto referendum.

Related articles

• Initiated constitutional amendment
• Legislatively referred constitutional amendment
• Amending state constitutions
• Colorado Amendment 71: Distribution and Supermajority Requirements for Constitutional Amendments