Article XVII
Sec. 2: Amendments may also be proposed to this constitution by petition of the qualified
electorsvoters of this Statebut no proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors unless the number of petitioners therefor shall exceed twenty per cent of the total number of electors voting for secretary of state at the preceding election of such officer.All petitions shall contain the full text of any proposed amendment, together with any existing provisions of the constitution which would be altered or abrogated thereby. Such petitions shall be signed at the regular registration or election places at a regular registration or election under the supervision of the officials thereof, who shall verify the genuineness of the signatures and certify the fact that the signers are registered electors of the respective townships and cities in which they reside, and shall forthwith forward the petitions to the secretary of state. All petitions for amendments filed with the secretary of state shall be certified by that officer to the legislature at the opening of its next regular session; and, when such petitions for any one proposed amendment shall be signed by not less than the required number of petitioners, he shall also submit the proposed amendment to the electors at the first regular election thereafter, unless the legislature in joint convention shall disapprove of the proposed amendment by a majority vote of the members elected. The legislature may, by a like vote, submit an alternative or a substitute proposal on the same subject. The action of the legislature shall be entered on the journal of each house, with the yeas and nays taken thereon. But no amendment to this section may be proposed in the manner herein prescribed.Every such petition shall include the full text of the amendment so proposed, and be signed by not less than ten per cent of the legal voters of the State. Initiative petitions proposing an amendment to this constitution shall be filed with the Secretary of State at least four months before the election at which such proposed amendment is to be voted upon. Upon receipt of such petition by the Secretary of State he shall canvass the same to ascertain if such petition has been signed by the requisite number of qualified electors, and if the same has been so signed, the proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors at the next regular election at which any State officer is to be elected. Any constitutional amendment initiated by the people as herein provided, shall take effect and become a part of the constitution if the same shall be approved by a majority of the electors voting thereon and not otherwise. Every amendment shall take effect thirty days after the election at which it is approved. The total number of votes cast for Governor at the regular election last preceding the filing of any petition proposing an amendment to the constitution, shall be the basis upon which the number of legal voters necessary to sign such a petition shall be computed. The Secretary of State shall submit all proposed amendments to the constitution initiated by the people for adoption or rejection in compliance herewith. The petition shall consist of sheets in such form and having printed or written at the top thereof such heading as shall be designated or prescribed by the Secretary of State. Such petition shall be signed by qualified voters in person only with the residence address of such persons and the date of signing the same. To each of such petitions, which may consist of one or more sheets, shall be attached the affidavit of the elector circulating the same, stating that each signature thereto is the genuine signature of the person signing the same, and that to the best knowledge and belief of the affiant each person signing the petition was at the time of signing a qualified elector. Such petition so verified shall be prima facie evidence that the signatures thereon are genuine, and that the persons signing the same are qualified electors. The text of all amendments to be submitted shall be published as constitutional amendments are now required to be published.
If a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the legislature voting thereon shall ratify and approve any such amendment or amendments, the same shall become a part of the constitution: Provided, That for any amendment proposed under this section, the affirmative vote shall be not less than one-third of the highest number of votes cast at the said election for any office. In case alternative proposed amendments on the same subject are submitted at the same election, the vote shall be for one of such alternatives or against such proposed amendments as a whole. If the affirmative vote for one proposed amendment is the required majority of all the votes cast for and against such proposed amendments, it shall become a part of the constitution. If the total affirmative vote for such alternative proposed amendments is the required majority of all the votes for and against them, but no one proposed amendment receives such majority, then the proposed amendment which receives the largest number of affirmative votes shall be submitted at the next regular election, and if it then receives the required majority of all the votes cast thereon it shall become a part of the constitution. The legislature shall enact appropriate laws to carry out the provisions of this section.
