[Future constitutional conventions; how called; election of delegates;
compensation; quorum; submission of amendments; officers;
employees; rules; vacancies]
§2. At the general election to be held in the year nineteen hundred
fifty-seven, and every twentieth year thereafter, and also at such times
as the legislature may by law provide, the question "Shall there be a
convention to revise the constitution and amend the same?" shall be
submitted to and decided by the electors of the state;
and in case a
majority of the electors voting thereon shall decide in favor of a
convention for such purpose, the electors of every senate district of the
state, as then organized, shall elect three delegates at the next ensuing
general election, and the electors of the state voting at the same election
shall elect fifteen delegates-at-large.
The delegates so elected shall
convene at the capitol on the first Tuesday of April next ensuing after
their election, and shall continue their session until the business of such
convention shall have been completed.
Every delegate shall receive for
his or her services the same compensation as shall then be annually
payable to the members of the assembly and be reimbursed for actual
traveling expenses, while the convention is in session, to the extent that
a member of the assembly would then be entitled thereto in the case of
a session of the legislature.
A majority of the convention shall constitute
a quorum for the transaction of business, and no amendment to the
constitution shall be submitted for approval to the electors as hereinafter
provided, unless by the assent of a majority of all the delegates
elected to the convention, the ayes and noes being entered on the
journal to be kept.
The convention shall have the power to appoint such
officers, employees and assistants as it may deem necessary, and fix
their compensation and to provide for the printing of its documents,
journal, proceedings and other expenses of said convention. The
convention shall determine the rules of its own proceedings, choose its
own officers, and be the judge of the election, returns and qualifications
of its members.
In case of a vacancy, by death, resignation or
other cause, of any district delegate elected to the convention, such
vacancy shall be filled by a vote of the remaining delegates representing
the district in which such vacancy occurs. If such vacancy occurs in the
office of a delegate-at-large, such vacancy shall be filled by a vote of
the remaining delegates-at-large.
Any proposed constitution or
constitutional amendment which shall have been adopted by such
convention, shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of the state at the
time and in the manner provided by such convention, at an election
which shall be held not less than six weeks after the adjournment of
such convention.
Upon the approval of such constitution or constitutional
amendments, in the manner provided in the last preceding
section, such constitution or constitutional amendment, shall go into
effect on the first day of January next after such approval.
(Formerly §2
of Art. 14. Renumbered and amended by Constitutional Convention of
1938 and approved by vote of the people November 8, 1938; further
amended by vote of the people November 6, 2001.)
