Almost every November of odd-numbered years, Texas voters are called on to do their civic duty and vote on constitutional amendments proposed by that year’s earlier Legislative session. This year is no different: On November 4, 2025, we will be voting on 17 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution in effect now, the seventh Constitution to be ratified in our state’s history, this one enacted in 1876.
You just might be thinking, “Hmmm...isn’t 17 a pretty high number of constitutional amendments to be proposed?” If you are comparing the state of Texas to our nation, then of course you are right, since the United States Constitution, enacted in 1787, has been amended fewer than 30 times in all these 238 years.
Texas, however, has a constitution that has now already been amended over 500 times in just 149 years. Why does our state constitution need so much attention and modification, when the national Constitution is much less frequently amended?
During the time frame in which the two constitutions were drafted, very different circumstances prevailed: the US Constitution was written in the early days of the newly independent united former colonies, and it was written to correct obvious problems in the original Articles of Confederation adopted by Congress in 1777. With a few years of experience to show that the central government needed greater power to act on behalf of all the states, the drafters of the US Constitution were careful to make the document general enough that it would allow for law-making by Congress within relatively broad parameters.
The Texas Constitution, on the other hand, was drafted during the days of “Reconstruction” after the Civil War, after Texas had regained its statehood independent of Union military control. Thus, it reflected the Texans’ determination to limit the powers of any authority, especially one considered oppressive, such as the Legislature then run by Republicans elected under that rigid military control. So the Texas Constitution we live with now is highly specific about the limited powers delegated to the Legislature, which must seek the voters’ approval for anything the Legislature is not empowered to do on its own.
One thing that the Texas Constitution did NOT do is allow for popular initiative by the people, which would have called for statewide votes on matters put onto the ballot by petition of the voters themselves, i.e., not matters that the Legislature had proposed. Thus, Texas is one of two dozen states without that feature of democracy. Nor does the Texas Constitution allow for recall balloting to remove elected officials.
In any case, we now face a bundle of these constitutional amendments virtually every two years after legislative sessions. Unfortunately, in the “non-presidential election years,” when there are no statewide office or Congressional elections on the ballot either, the turnout to vote on these amendments is often below 15%, compared to over 50% of eligible voters who participate in Congressional elections. Thus, relatively few voters are paying attention to the proposed new measures by our Texas Legislature that amend the Constitution and modify our government, and hence, our lives.
The League of Women Voters of South Central Texas urges you to educate yourself on these amendments for the November 4 election. Consult Voters Guides (the League’s non-partisan Guide can be accessed as an insert to the October 10 edition of this paper and free at vote411.org), and then take a summary list of how you want to vote on each amendment to the polls with you. Be an active participant, dear readers, in one of our very most important civic responsibilities: VOTE November 4 on the 17 proposed Texas Constitutional Amendments!