There are 14 proposed constitutional amendments on Louisiana’s November ballot, which as columnist Jeremy Alford notes in his latest column, means there are more “yes or no” questions than there are federal elections listed.
“If that strikes you as excessive, you’re not alone and you’re absolutely justified in thinking so,” Alford writes. “There are 41 states around the country hosting similar ballot queries and statewide initiatives on Election Day next week. But none is tasking its voters with as many as the Bayou State.”
Alford notes that New Mexico and North Dakota will each have eight referenda, constitutional amendments and statewide bond questions for voters to weigh in on in just a few days. Maine, Oregon and Rhode Island will each have seven on Nov. 4, and there are six on the ballot in California. “But that’s the closest any of the states come to matching what we’re facing,” Alford writes.
“Nationally, Louisiana’s 14 constitutional amendments are unequaled this year. Usually it’s our so-called jungle primaries that set us apart from the rest of the United States. Or more times than not, including this year, the actual politicians who are running for office here. Yet this time we’re taking top billing for the efforts by state lawmakers to get something on the ballot other than themselves.”
And for those who have been keeping close tabs on the perennial attempts to alter Louisiana’s guiding charter, Alford says this isn’t surprising news.
“The Louisiana Constitution of 1974 has been amended 175 times, with 54 of the amendments being passed by voters during the last two decades alone,” he writes. “So, when will we, as a state, finally reach a breaking point? Maybe it’ll take voters rejecting entire slates of constitutional amendments.”
(Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, atLaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached atJJA@LaPolitics.com.)
