Three amendments will go before Wisconsin voters this fall

What will be on the ballot

Wisconsin voters will decide this fall whether to add three provisions to the state Constitution. Republican lawmakers advanced the proposals through the Legislature during Gov. Tony Evers’s second term.

One would prohibit state and local government entities from discriminating against or giving preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. The restriction would apply to public employment, education, contracting and administration.

A second amendment would limit the governor’s use of the partial veto to increase taxes or fees. The third would prohibit governments from closing places of worship during public health emergencies.

How Wisconsin changes its Constitution

A proposed constitutional amendment must pass the Legislature as a resolution in two consecutive legislative sessions before appearing on a statewide ballot. The governor cannot veto that resolution. Voters then decide whether to add the proposal to the Constitution, but Wisconsin voters cannot initiate constitutional amendments themselves.

These three questions bring the number of proposed amendments placed before voters by Republican lawmakers during Evers’s two terms to 15. Voters approved seven of the previous 12.

Republican Rep. Dave Murphy has said the amendment process allows voters to decide policies that Evers might veto as legislation. Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, has argued that lawmakers are using constitutional amendments in place of the regular lawmaking process.

Debate over the equity proposal

Amanda Merkwae, policy and advocacy director at the ACLU of Wisconsin, has criticized the wording of the government equity amendment. She said its language does not explain that federal and state laws already prohibit discrimination. Placing a policy in the Constitution also makes later changes more difficult because another amendment would have to complete the same legislative and voter approval process.