Vermont Prohibition on the Sale of Intoxicating Liquor Act (1916)

Ballot measures in Vermont
Constitutional amendments
Statutes referred by Legislature
Amending the Vermont Constitution
Vermont Constitution

A Vermont Prohibition on the Sale of Intoxicating Liquor Act was on the March 7, 1916 ballot in Vermont as a legislatively referred state statute, where it was rejected.

On March 12, 1915, the Vermont legislature passed Act 171 of 1915, which called for the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors in Vermont.

Voters were given the opportunity, on the ballot, to decide when Act 171 of 1915 would go into effect. Voters were given a choice between May 1, 1916 and May 1, 1927.

The Vermont State Legislature gave the voters a choice about which date their prohibition act would go into effect because it was the understanding of the Vermont legislature that they could not directly ask the voters to approve or disapprove of a legislative act. Rather, when the legislature wanted to know what the state's voters thought about a particular legislative act, they would put a question on the ballot giving the voters two different dates for when the bill would go into effect. If the voters approved the date furthest in the future, this vote was interpreted by the legislature as a rejection of their legislation.

• Votes to enact on May 1, 1916: 18,653
• Votes to enact on May 1, 1927: 32,142 d

In accordance with the vote, the Vermont State Legislature on January 23, 1917 enacted Act 234, which repealed Act 171 of 1915, the Vermont prohibition act. On January 19, 1919, the national prohibition amendment (18th amendment) to the U.S. Constitution was ratified without an affirmative vote from Vermont.

External links

• Text of the question