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In November, Voters Face Question of Whether to Rewrite State ConstitutionEvery ten years the electorate is asked if there should be a constitutional conventionRelated Content
ANCHORAGE - In the November general election, voters will be asked if they want to hold a constitutional convention – a forum in which any aspect of the state's foundational document could be changed. The question is mandated by the Alaska Constitution itself every 10 years. To date, voters have said no. And two delegates to the original constitutional convention say that should be the case again this year. In the winter of 1955-56, the 55 delegates to the original Alaska constitutional convention reviewed the constitutions of other states. That led to a decision to offer voters a chance every 10 years to rewrite the convention's work product. "The reason was that the history of many states showed they had gone for a hundred years or more without updating their constitution, and they had constitutions that were very detailed and they had a lot of stuff that was totally obsolete,” said delegate Vic Fischer. But the delegates also included a process for amending the constitution one issue at a time, through two-thirds approval of each house of the Legislature, and ratification by voters. "So when issues came up such as the permanent fund, the constitutional budget reserve, the right to privacy, those were amendments that went through the legislative process, were put before the voters and the voters said yes on those and they became part of the constitution," Fischer said. Among the last few surviving members of the original convention, Fischer and Jack Coghill said they oppose a free-for-all new convention now. "I haven't heard anything and we haven't exhausted the amendment process," Coghill said. Fischer said any move for a constitutional convention this year should have begun a couple of years ago, so that all the implications were clear. But he still thinks that 10-year provision has a purpose. "There may be a time when enough issues come up that the people of Alaska feel there should be a complete new look at the whole constitution." But no such momentum appears to exist now. When the constitutional convention question was last posed, in 2002, almost 72 percent of voters opposed it. |
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Dave said on Saturday, Sep 8 at 10:59 AM
Just another ploy to raid the permanent fund...
101377675BobD said on Saturday, Sep 8 at 11:37 AM
You're probably right , Dave.. We all need to vote no..Not needed at this time..
101379356jeep_hann@yahoo.com said on Saturday, Sep 8 at 3:53 PM
I could not trust the career politicions in Juneau to do anything good for the people and not just themselves
101391655Wes said on Saturday, Sep 8 at 8:42 PM
Dave: It's not a ploy to raid the perm fund; it is a constitutional requirement that the voters be ask. The bunch who wrote the original document were/are a bunch of sharp, community oriented folks. I say leave this document alone: VOTE NO!
101406475Anonymous said on Saturday, Sep 8 at 9:53 PM
when in doubt RESEARCH it...the more you know...and know the law...ask the questions no one wants to answer and there is your answer...with the way things are going in Juneau I would not rewrite anything or crimes will go unpunished when they cook the books, or laws...
101409095Common Sense said on Saturday, Sep 8 at 10:47 PM
Move the Capital and the rest will fix it self.
101411315Just Say No said on Monday, Sep 10 at 9:20 AM
then EDUCATE them...commercials on the radio/tv? " Just Say NO"
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