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Nevada Question 4, Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Amendment (2024)
| Nevada Question 4 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 2024 | |
| Topic Constitutional language | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
Nevada Question 4, the Remove Slavery as Punishment for Crime from Constitution Amendment, was on the ballot in Nevada as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024.[1] The ballot measure was approved.
A "yes" vote supported repealing language from the Nevada Constitution that allows the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments. |
A "no" vote opposed repealing language from the Nevada Constitution that allows the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments. |
Election results
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Nevada Question 4 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
835,627 | 60.60% | ||
| No | 543,236 | 39.40% | ||
Overview
What did the amendment do?
- See also: Text of measure
The amendment removed language from the Nevada Constitution that allows the use of slavery or involuntary servitude as criminal punishments. The amended text would read: Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever be tolerated in this State.[1]
Were similar measures proposed in other states?
- See also: Related ballot measures
Between 2016 and 2022, voters in eight states decided nine measures that removed language in the constitution that allowed for enslavement or servitude as punishments for crimes, or, in Vermont, for the payment of debts, damages, or fines.
Seven measures were approved by voters in Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont. Two measures were rejected by voters in Colorado and Louisiana. In Colorado, a measure that removed language from the state constitution saying that slavery and involuntary servitude were permitted as criminal punishments was rejected in 2016, but then approved in 2018.
What other states had constitutional provisions that provide for slavery as punishment for a crime?
- See also: State constitutions
As of 2024, eight states—Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, and Wisconsin—had constitutions that include provisions prohibiting enslavement and involuntary servitude but with an exception for criminal punishments. An additional eight states—California, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, and Ohio—have constitutions that include provisions permitting involuntary servitude, but not slavery, as a criminal punishment.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The official ballot title was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Shall the Ordinance of the Nevada Constitution and the Nevada Constitution be amended to remove language authorizing the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as a criminal punishment?[3] |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article 1, Nevada Constitution
The measure amended both the Ordinance and Article 1, Section 17 of the Nevada Constitution. The following struck-through text was deleted:[4]
Text of Ordinance
Slavery prohibited; freedom of religious worship; disclaimer of public lands. [Effective until the date Congress consents to amendment or a legal determination is made that such consent is not necessary.] In obedience to the requirements of an act of the Congress of the United States, approved March twenty-first, A.D. eighteen hundred and sixty-four, to enable the people of Nevada to form a constitution and state government, this convention, elected and convened in obedience to said enabling act, do ordain as follows, and this ordinance shall be irrevocable, without the consent of the United States and the people of the State of Nevada:
- First. That there shall be in this state neither slavery nor involuntary servitude.
, otherwise than in the punishment for crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
- Second. That perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured, and no inhabitant of said state shall ever be molested, in person or property, on account of his or her mode of religious worship.
- Third. That the people inhabiting said territory do agree and declare, that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated public lands lying within said territory, and that the same shall be and remain at the sole and entire disposition of the United States; and that lands belonging to citizens of the United States, residing without the said state, shall never be taxed higher than the land belonging to the residents thereof; and that no taxes shall be imposed by said state on lands or property therein belonging to, or which may hereafter be purchased by, the United States, unless otherwise provided by the congress of the United States.
Text of Section 17:
Slavery and Involuntary Servitude Prohibited
Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude unless for the punishment of crimes shall ever be tolerated in this State.
[3]
Readability score
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024
Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The secretary of state wrote the ballot language for this measure.
The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 20, and the FRE is 0. The word count for the ballot title is 28.
Support
Supporters
Officials
- State Sen. Dallas Harris (D)
- State Sen. Patricia Spearman (D)
- State Asm. Howard Watts III (D)
Organizations
Arguments
Opposition
Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.
Campaign finance
Ballotpedia has not identified ballot measure committees registered to support or oppose the ballot measure.[5]
| Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Oppose | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Media editorials
- See also: 2024 ballot measure media endorsements
Support
The following media editorial boards published an editorial supporting the ballot measure:
Opposition
Ballotpedia did not locate media editorial boards in opposition to the ballot measure.
Background
Related ballot measures
- See also: Constitutional language on the ballot
In 2022, voters in five states — Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont—decided on ballot measures to repeal language from their state constitutions that allows for enslavement or servitude as punishments for crimes or, in Vermont, for the payment of debts, damages, or fines. On November 8, 2022, voters in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont approved measures to amend language in state constitutions regarding slavery as punishment for a crime. Voters in Louisiana rejected a measure to amend language in their state constitution regarding slavery as punishment for a crime.
In 2020, voters in Nebraska and Utah voted to remove language from their respective constitutions that allowed the use of slavery and involuntary servitude as criminal punishments. Nebraska Amendment 1 was approved by a margin of 68.23% to 31.77%. Utah Constitutional Amendment C was approved by a margin of 80.48% to 19.52%.
In 2018, voters in Colorado approved Amendment A, which removed language from the state constitution saying that slavery and involuntary servitude were permitted as criminal punishments. Amendment A received 66.2% of the vote. In 2016, voters in Colorado rejected a constitutional amendment—Amendment T—that would have removed the same language as Amendment A. Amendment T received 49.7% of the vote.
Federal constitution
The Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified on December 6, 1865. The Thirteenth Amendment prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for those convicted of crimes. The text of the Thirteenth Amendment is as follows:
|
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. |
State constitutions
Slavery as criminal punishment
As of 2024, eight states had constitutions that included provisions prohibiting enslavement and involuntary servitude but with an exception for criminal punishments. These constitutional provisions were added to state constitutions, in their original forms, from the 1850s to the 1890s.
| State | Constitution | Language |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | Article II, Section 27 | "There shall be no slavery in this State, nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime." |
| Indiana | Article I, Section 37 | "There shall be neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, within the State, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
| Kentucky | Article I, Section 25 | "Slavery and involuntary servitude in this State are forbidden, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
| Minnesota | Article I, Section 2 | "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the state otherwise than as punishment for a crime of which the party has been convicted." |
| Mississippi | Article III, Section 15 | "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
| Nevada | Article I, Section 17 | "Neither Slavery nor involuntary servitude unless for the punishment of crimes shall ever be tolerated in this State." |
| North Dakota | Article I, Section 6 | "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this state." |
| Wisconsin | Article I, Section 2 | "There shall be neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude in this state, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
Involuntary servitude as criminal punishment
As of 2023, eight states had constitutions that included provisions permitting involuntary servitude, but not slavery, as a criminal punishment.
| State | Constitution | Language |
|---|---|---|
| California | Article I, Section 6 | "Slavery is prohibited. Involuntary servitude is prohibited except to punish crime." |
| Georgia | Article I, Paragraph XX | "There shall be no involuntary servitude within the State of Georgia except as a punishment for crime after legal conviction thereof or for contempt of court." |
| Iowa | Article I, Section 23 | "There shall be no slavery in this state; nor shall there be involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime." |
| Kansas | Bill of Rights, Section 6 | "There shall be no slavery in this state; and no involuntary servitude, except for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." |
| Louisiana | Article I, Section 3 | "Slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, except in the latter case as punishment for crime." |
| Michigan | Article I, Section 9 | "Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude unless for the punishment of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this state." |
| North Carolina | Article I, Section 17 | "Slavery is forever prohibited. Involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the parties have been adjudged guilty, is forever prohibited." |
| Ohio | Article I, Section 6 | "There shall be no slavery in this state; nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime." |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Nevada Constitution
In Nevada, a majority vote is required in two successive sessions of the Nevada State Legislature to place an amendment on the ballot.
2021-2022 legislative session
The amendment was introduced as Assembly Joint Resolution 10 (AJR 10). On April 13, 2021, it was approved by the Assembly in a vote of 42-0. On May 17, 2021, it was approved in the Senate by a vote of 21-0. The amendment must also pass in the 2023 legislative session.[1]
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2023-2024 legislative session
On February 16, 2023, AJR 10 was approved by the Assembly by 42-0. On February 23, 2023, it was approved in the Senate by a vote of 21-0.[1]
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How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting in Nevada
See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in Nevada.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nevada State Legislature, "AJR 10," accessed June 3, 2021
- ↑ Nevada Secretary of State, "Statewide Ballot Questions," accessed September 13, 2024
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Nevada Legislature, "AJR 10 Text," accessed June 3, 2021
- ↑ Nevada Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance," accessed March 2, 2023
- ↑ Nevada Legislatures, "Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.273," accessed September 18, 2025
- ↑ Clark County, Nevada, "Election Day Voting," accessed September 18, 2025
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Nevada Secretary of State, “Elections,” accessed September 18, 2025
- ↑ Nevada Secretary of State, “Registering to Vote,” accessed September 18, 2025
- ↑ Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, “Voter Registration,” accessed September 18, 2025
- ↑ Nevada Secretary of State, “Voter Registration Form,” accessed September 18, 2025
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
- ↑ Nevada Legislatures, "Nev. Rev. Stat. § 293.277," accessed September 18, 2025
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State of Nevada Carson City (capital) |
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