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Forty-four amendments to the Alaska Constitution have been proposed by the Alaska Legislature and considered by voters of the United States state of Alaska since the Alaska Constitution became effective on January 3, 1959. Twenty-nine have been ratified by voters in a statewide election, and 15 failed to gain a majority of votes cast in a statewide general election.

Unlike amendments to the United States Constitution, Alaska's constitutional amendments are not referred to by number. Most have been revisions to the text of the Constitution rather than appendices to it, as with the American Bill of Rights.

The Alaska Constitution forms the basis of Alaska's system of civil authority and was written between November 8, 1955 and February 5, 1956 at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was ratified during a statewide vote on April 24, 1956, with 17,477 votes in favor and 8,180 votes against.

In Article XIII, the authors of the constitution created two methods for changing it. Proposing an amendment requires the approval of two-thirds of the Alaska House of Representatives (currently, 27 of 40 members) and two-thirds of the Alaska Senate (14 of 20 members). If a proposed amendment is adopted by the Legislature, it must be ratified with a majority vote in the state's next general election. If not, it is not added to the constitution.

This requirement was itself modified by amendment in 1974. Before that time, ratification votes took place at the next statewide election, even if that election was a primary or special election.

Several constitutional amendments are proposed in the Alaska Legislature each year, but few reach the two-thirds majority. Since 2001, only three proposed amendments have been placed on the ballot, and of those, only one has been ratified.

The amendment powers of Article XIII are limited by a 1999 Alaska Supreme Court ruling. Amendments that alter multiple sections of the constitution are considered revisions and can be approved only at a constitutional convention. The Alaska Legislature may call a constitutional convention at any time, and unless the Legislature calls a convention on its own, the Alaska Constitution requires that voters be asked every 10 years if they wish to call a convention. In 1970, the first such referendum passed by a narrow margin, 34,911 votes to 34,472. After a lawsuit, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the referendum's ballot language was biased and required a new election.

That vote, held in 1972, failed by a wide margin. Alaska voters rejected conventions in 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012. The next referendum is scheduled for the 2022 Alaska elections.

Additional Reading

 * Donley, Dave, et al. "Bess v. Ulmer: The Supreme Court Stumbles and the Subsistence Amendment Fails," Alaska Law Review. Vol. 19, pp. 295–338. 2002.

Category:Alaska law Category:State constitutions of the United States