Alabama Election Results: Constitutional Amendments Pass

BIRMINGHAM, AL - In addition the federal and statewide offices voters will determine on Tuesday, four amendments to the Alabama Constitution of 1901 were on the ballot. Some of the amendments, dealing with some hot topics, will likely receive some backlash - perhaps in the form of court cases - if they pass.

The Alabama Constitution has been amended 928 times, and is the largest state constitution in the United States. The two most controversial amendments on the ballot includes one that deals with abortion and another that addresses the display of the Ten Commandments in government buildings, which some legal experts have said will likely be challenged in the courts.

Related Story: Amendments On Abortion, 10 Commandments Could Be Unconstitutional

As the polls have closed and results start being reported, this story will be updated to reflect the Yes and No votes

With 70 percent of precincts reporting, all amendments have already been projected as passing:

Amendment 1

"Providing for certain religious rights and liberties; authorizing the display of the Ten Commandments on state property and property owned or administrated by a public school or public body; and prohibiting the expenditure of public funds in defense of the constitutionality of this amendment."

The amendment would put the right of schools and public agencies to display the Ten Commandments in public settings in the state constitution.

• Yes 72%
• No 28%

Amendment 2

"To declare and otherwise affirm that it is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, most importantly the right to life in all manners and measures appropriate and lawful; and to provide that the constitution of this state does not protect the right to abortion or require the funding of abortion."

The amendment would prevent the state’s courts and Legislature from expanding abortion access beyond what is currently allowed in federal law. If the SCOTUS eventually overturns Roe v. Wade, the amendment would give state lawmakers the power to restrict the procedure in almost all cases, even those involving health or sexual assault.

• Yes 60%
• No 40%

Amendment 3

"Relating to the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama, to specify that the congressional districts from which members are appointed continue to reflect those as constituted on January 1, 2018, to remove the State Superintendent of Education from membership, and to delete the requirement that members vacate office at the annual meeting of the board following their seventieth birthday."

The amendment would use the state’s current congressional boundaries to determine future representation on the University of Alabama’s 15-member board of trustees, even if those boundaries change after the 2020 census, when slow population growth could cost Alabama a congressional seat.

• Yes 61%
• No 39%

Amendment 4

"To provide that, if a vacancy in either the House of Representatives or the Senate occurs on or after October 1 of the third year of a quadrennium, the seat would remain vacant until a successor is elected at the next succeeding general election"

If the amendment were to pass, it would cut down on the number of elections following a late vacancy, but it would also ensure that a district that experienced one would not have legislative representation in the final year of a quadrennium.

• Yes 65%
• No 35%

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