Thirteen states have multi-year constitutional amendment processes that involve legislatures passing amendments in two successive sessions before they go on the ballot. Since 2010, 66% (60 of 91) of the amendments that passed during the first session in these states were also passed in the second. When partisan control of a legislative chamber changes between two successive legislative sessions, constitutional amendments often fail to receive a vote during the second session. From 2010 to 2022, 79% (11 of 14) of constitutional amendments in two-session requirement states were defeated or died in committee following a change in party control. Virginia, where Republicans took control of the House following the 2021 election, became the most recent example of this pattern with House committee votes on March 1.
The Virginia State Legislature passed two constitutional amendments in 2021. One would have repealed the state constitution’s language defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The other constitutional amendment would have restored voting rights to persons convicted of a felony after they have completed their sentence. Both constitutional amendments received unanimous support from legislative Democrats. Six House Republicans voted for the marriage amendment and two for the voting rights restoration amendment in 2021.
At the election on November 2, 2021, Republicans went from a 45-member minority to a 52-member majority in the 100-seat House of Delegates. Democrats flipped the state Senate in 2019 and still have control during the 2022 legislative session. State Senate elections occur at four-year intervals.
