Vote could be sooner than 2012!

The media is incorrectly saying the earliest the Iowa Constitution could be amended is 2012.

It is true that it is difficult to amend the Iowa Constitution. However, the media has only been talking about one of the ways---where the question must be approved by two consecutive session of the General Assembly and then placed before the voters.

Those who wrote the Iowa Constitution put a second mechanism in place. It allows voters every 10 years at a general election to bypass the Legislature and call a meeting to propose amendments to the state’s core legal document.

The question will next be presented to Iowans in November 2010.

If Iowans vote for holding a convention, the Legislature is required in the next session to approve a law establishing a system to elect delegates to the gathering. Amendments proposed by the convention would go before the voters for their approval “at such a time as the general assembly shall provide,” says Article X of the Iowa Constitution.

If voters approve holding a convention in 2010, the proposed amendments theoretically could go on the ballot sooner than 2012.

In a previous post, I said voters should approve holding a Constitutional Convention. It is necessary to require the Legislature and Governor to abide by laws that they pass for everyone else---specifically Iowa’s open meeting law.

The recent news from Des Moines gives even more reason for voters to approve holding a convention. The people deserve a vote on two additional amendments:

1) Should marriage be defined as between a man and a woman? 2) Should tax increases require a two thirds vote of the Iowa Legislature?