Voters beware: What to know about constitutional amendment ballot questions before voting in the November election

Wisconsin voters will encounter three constitutional amendment referendum questions on the Nov. 3 ballot. In a series of posts over the next two weeks, Wisconsin Justice Initiative will help you become an informed voter on constitutional amendment referendums generally and the Nov. 3 election questions specifically.

Because constitutional amendment ballot questions alone do not sufficiently inform you about the proposed changes, ensure you’re up to speed before mailing your ballot or heading to your polling place.

Here are tips to prepare for all constitutional amendment ballot referendums.

As a start, it’s helpful to know the process for amending the Wisconsin Constitution. The Legislature must pass a proposed constitutional amendment twice, first during one two-year legislative term (“first consideration”), and then again during the next two-year legislative term (“second consideration”). The Legislature then submits the amendment to voters at an upcoming election of its choosing. If voters approve, the amendment then becomes part of the constitution.

The governor is not involved in the process.

When the Legislature passes the proposed amendment on second consideration, it also passes the wording of the ballot question that will ask voters to approve the change and names the election at which voters will see the question.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has held that the Legislature has broad leeway in writing the question. The question may be vague, confusing, or even misleading, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court said that’s OK under the state constitution.

In a case brought by Wisconsin Justice Initiative, challenging an amendment ballot question as insufficient and misleading, the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2023 ruled that the Legislature’s “submission” of the proposed amendment to the people “does not require any substantive discussion of the amendment.”

“No explanation or summary is constitutionally commanded,” Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote for the court.

Hagedorn said a ballot question is only deficient “in the rare circumstance that the question is fundamentally counterfactual such that voters were not asked to approve the actual amendment.”

In a concurring opinion, former Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley wrote that the court’s test boils down to, “Did the ballot question contain clearly false information?”

The purpose of an amendment referendum ballot question “is not to educate voters,” she said. “Voters are trusted to inform themselves.”

So how do you do that? Here are guidelines for any election with a constitutional amendment ballot question. The short version is in the block immediately below. Read on for a more in-depth discussion.​

1. Know that the short ballot question is not the actual amendment.
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The amendment itself can be quite long. It could add a new provision to the constitution, add new language to a current provision, or delete language from the constitution.

Look for a copy of the actual amendment on the Legislature’s website under constitutional “enrolled joint resolutions.”  Or, Ballotpedia has a page with ballot measures in various states—scroll down to Wisconsin, click on the link for the amendment and look for “text of measure.”

2. Know that constitutional amendment ballot questions are framed and worded for a “yes” answer.  

The Legislature has passed this amendment, twice. Legislators want you to pass it as well.  They write the question, and the question will make you want to say “yes.”

So what do you think about this Legislature? Do you generally agree or disagree with what it does and wants?

Sleuths among our readers can look up which legislators voted in favor or against the proposed amendment. What do you think of them?

Legislative votes can be found by clicking on the initial Assembly or Senate joint resolution on the Legislature’s website. (An example is here.) The vote tally should be near the top. If you click on the vote tally it will show how the law makers voted.

3. Look for other reasons why this question is on the ballot.  

For instance, is this an attempt to get around the governor when the Legislature and governor are from different political parties? Has the governor vetoed an attempt to pass a statute on the same subject?

The pace of constitutional amendments has increased. From 2006 to 2022, voters saw six constitutional amendment ballot questions. Since 2023 there have been 11, including the three coming up. Clashes between the Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers may explain the uptick.

Remember the governor is not part of the amendment process.

When the governor and Legislature are in accord, legislation is relatively easy to enact because the governor often approves what the Legislature has passed.

But when the parties differ, a bill may get the governor’s veto. In this climate, the Legislature may turn to constitutional amendments to bypass the governor.

Question 2 on the November ballot (banning closure of places of worship during a state of emergency) exemplifies this. Evers vetoed a bill on the same point in 2021.

The Legislature may also seek to cement something into the constitution in case control of the Legislature changes or it does not like the make-up of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Voters can also examine whether the Legislature is using this question to bring voters to the polls.

Constitutional amendments are often hot-button issues. This year’s questions include whether the governor’s partial veto should be limited following Evers’ adjustment to school district funding for 400 years, restrictions on places of worship during a state of emergency following the COVID-19 pandemic health emergency restrictions by the Evers administration, and anti-DEI sentiment.

By focusing on attention-grabbing issues that stir up strong feelings, the proposed amendment may drive certain demographics to the polls, while keeping the topic in the news. Many recent amendments have been about elections, which is an ongoing hot-button issue.

The Legislature could have chosen the April 2026 election for some of these provisions but waited for the November election instead.

Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) accused Republicans of placing amendments on the November 2026 ballot to boost conservative turnout, comparing the strategy to Wisconsin’s 2006 same-sex marriage ban amendment.

Is there really a problem that needs fixing, or is this a political issue? Has the Legislature backed the proposed amendment with evidence?

Sponsors of the 2025 voter-identification constitutional amendment (which passed) provided little to no evidence that voter impersonation occurs. Wisconsin already had a strict statute requiring voter identification. Meanwhile, a study noted by the ACLU of Wisconsin found just 31 credible voter impersonation cases nationwide out of more than 1 billion votes from 2000 to 2012.

Voter identity “protections” were a solution in search of a problem. So why did we need a constitutional amendment?

As reported in Ballotpedia, Rep. Rob Kreibich (R-New Richmond) provided one reason: “For clarification, photo ID is already required by Wisconsin State Statute. But a ‘yes’ vote would amend the Wisconsin Constitution to include this requirement, which will further protect the integrity of the voting system from our leftist-activist WI Supreme Court.”

4. Consider whether this is something better addressed in the form of a statute than a constitutional change.

Constitutions generally set up government structures, provide guarantees of rights, and talk in broad terms that can stand through time. Statutes are generally where we hash out where the rubber meets the road.

That’s because statutes are easier to change. Undoing a constitutional change can take three to five years. The more detail that is in a constitution, the more government officials’ hands may be tied when times and circumstances change.

5. Consider the impacts —known and unknown.

The Legislature is not required to conduct studies before proposing constitutional amendments. Voters should ask whether this purported solution to a proposed problem has been studied. What has happened in other states that have passed similar constitutional provisions?

The consequences may be unknown because they are unstudied, or they can be known but not widely discussed before voters go to the polls.

Examples of unintended consequences can be seen from recently passed amendments.

For instance, the April 2020 victims’ rights amendment has allowed police officers who fatally shoot someone to claim that they were victims acting in self-defense, entitling them to the right to privacy and to keep their names from the public.

The April 2024 ban on government entities receiving outside election funds or equipment affects cities that previously obtained grants from nonprofit sources to purchase voting machines. Taxpayers will now have to foot the bill for new equipment or repairs to old equipment.

6. If you don’t understand an amendment ballot question or what the amendment itself is, perhaps a general rule is to vote “no,” or do not vote on it at all.  

If you do not know what you’d be agreeing to with a “yes,” or if you haven’t identified an issue with the status quo, leaving things as they are may be the best answer.