Wisconsin Question 1, Gender Neutral Language Amendment (1982)
| Wisconsin Question 1 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Constitutional wording changes |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Wisconsin Question 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Wisconsin on November 2, 1982. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported amending the constitution to replace pronouns with gender neutral language. |
A "no" vote opposed amending the constitution to replace pronouns with gender neutral language. |
Election results
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Wisconsin Question 1 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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771,267 | 61.69% | ||
| No | 479,053 | 38.31% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 1 was as follows:
| “ | Gender neutral wording. Shall sections I and 18 of article I and sections 1 and 2 of article X of the constitution be amended so as to replace masculine or feminine gender words with words of neutral gender? | ” |
Constitutional changes
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
[Article I] Section 1. All men people are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Section 18. The right of every man person to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of his own conscience shall never be infringed; nor shall any man person be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his without consent; nor shall any control of, or interference with, the rights of conscience be permitted, or any preference be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship; nor shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of religious societies, or religious or theological seminaries.
[Article X] Section 1. The supervision of public instruction shall be vested in a state superintendent and such other officers as the legislature shall direct; and their qualifications, powers, duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law. The state superintendent shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the state at the same time and in the same manner as members of the supreme court, and shall hold his office for four 4 years from the succeeding first Monday in July. The state superintendent chosen at the general election in November, 1902, shall hold and continue in his office until the first Monday in July, 1905, and his successor shall be chosen at the time of the judicial election in April, 1905. The term of office, time and manner of electing or appointing all other officers of supervision of public instruction shall be fixed by law.
Section 2. The proceeds of all lands that have been or hereafter may be granted by the United States to this state for educational purposes (except the lands heretofore granted for the purpose of a university) and all moneys and the clear proceeds of all property that may accrue to the state by forfeiture or escheat, and all moneys which may be paid as an equivalent for exemption from military duty; and the clear proceeds of all fines collected in the several counties for any breach of the penal laws, and all moneys arising from any grant to the state where the purposes of such grant are not specified, and the five hundred thousand 500,000 acres of land to which the state is entitled by the provisions of an act of congress, entitled "An act to appropriate the proceeds of the sales of the public lands and to grant pre-emption rights," approved the fourth day of September 4, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one 1841; and also the five per centum 5 percent of the net proceeds of the public lands to which the state shall become entitled on her admission into the union (if congress shall consent to such appropriation of the two 2 grants last mentioned) shall be set apart as a separate fund to be called "the school fund," the interest of which and all other revenues derived from the school lands shall be exclusively applied to the following objects, to wit:
1. (1) To the support and maintenance of common schools, in each school district, and the purchase of suitable libraries and apparatus therefor.
2. (2) The residue shall be appropriated to the support and maintenance of academies and normal schools, and suitable libraries and apparatus therefor.[1]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Wisconsin Constitution
A simple majority vote is required during two legislative sessions for the Wisconsin State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 50 votes in the Wisconsin State Assembly and 17 votes in the Wisconsin State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
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