Editing Constitutional amendment (section)

===United States===

==== Federal constitution ====
{{main|Amending the United States Constitution}}
{{see also|List of amendments to the United States Constitution}}
[[Article Five of the United States Constitution]] describes the process whereby the federal Constitution may be altered. [[List of amendments to the United States Constitution|Twenty-seven amendments]] have been added (appended as [[wikt:codicil|codicils]]) to the Constitution.

Amendment proposals may be adopted and sent to the states for ratification by either:
* A two-thirds ([[supermajority]]) vote of members present—if a [[quorum]] exists—in both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the [[United States Congress]]; or
* A majority vote of state delegations at a [[Convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution|national convention called by Congress]] at the request of the [[State legislature (United States)|legislatures]] of at least two-thirds (at present 34) of the states. (This method has never been used.)

All 33 amendment proposals that have been sent to the states for ratification since the establishment of the Constitution have come into being via the Congress. State legislatures have however, at various times, used their power to apply for a national convention in order to pressure Congress into proposing a desired amendment. For example, the movement to amend the Constitution to provide for the direct election of [[United States Senators|senators]] began to see such proposals regularly pass the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] only to die in the Senate from the early 1890s onward. As time went by, more and more state legislatures adopted resolutions demanding that a convention be called, thus pressuring the Senate to finally relent and approve what later became the [[Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Seventeenth Amendment]] for fear that such a convention—if permitted to assemble—might stray to include issues above and beyond just the direct election of senators.

To become an operative part of the Constitution, an amendment, whether proposed by Congress or a national constitutional convention, must be ratified by either:
* The legislatures of three-fourths (at present 38) of the states; or
* [[State ratifying conventions]] in three-fourths (at present 38) of the states.

Congress has specified the state legislature ratification method for all but one amendment. The ratifying convention method was used for the [[Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-first Amendment]], which became part of the Constitution in 1933.

Since the turn of the 20th century, amendment proposals sent to the states for ratification have generally contained a seven-year ratification deadline, either in the body of the amendment or in the resolving clause of the joint resolution proposing it. The Constitution does not expressly provide for a deadline on the state legislatures' or state ratifying conventions' consideration of proposed amendments. In ''[[Dillon v. Gloss]]'' (1921), the Supreme Court affirmed that Congress—if it so desires—could provide a deadline for ratification. An amendment with an attached deadline that is not ratified by the required number of states within the set time period is considered ''inoperative'' and rendered [[mootness|moot]].<ref name="DvG">{{ussc|name=Dillon v. Gloss|256|368|1921}}</ref>

A proposed amendment becomes an official Article of the Constitution immediately once it is ratified by three-fourths of the States.<ref name=DvG /> The Article usually [[Coming into force|goes into force]] at this time too, though it may self-impose a delay before that happens, as was the case of the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighteenth Amendment]]. Every ratified Amendment has been certified or proclaimed by an official of the federal government, starting with the [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]], then the [[Administrator of General Services]], and now the [[Archivist of the United States]], with the Archivist currently being responsible for certification under {{USC |1|106b}}.<ref>{{cite web|last=Huckabee|first=David C.|title=Ratification of Amendments to the U.S. Constitution|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs415/m1/1/high_res_d/97-922gov_1997Sep30.pdf|work=[[Congressional Research Service reports]] (97-922 GOV)|publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]], The [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington D.C.|date=September 30, 1997|access-date=February 23, 2019|via=University of North Texas Digital Library|archive-date=May 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511070022/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs415/m1/1/high_res_d/97-922gov_1997Sep30.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The certification document usually contains a list of the States that ratified the Amendment. This certification is just used by the federal government to keep an official record and archive of the Amendment for its own purposes, and does not actually have any legal effect on the Amendment.

====State constitutions====
State constitutions in the U.S. are amended on a regular basis.<ref name="Berman">David R. Berman, State and Local Politics (7th ed.), M.E. Sharpe (2000), pp. 77-78 [https://books.google.com/books?id=P11rQi0MhnUC&dq=each+u.s.+state+has+a+different+process+for+constitutional+amendment&pg=PA77]</ref> In 19 states, the state constitutions have been amended at least 100 times.<ref name=Berman />

Amendments are often necessary because of the length of state constitutions, which are, on average, three times longer than the federal constitution, and because state constitutions typically contain extensive detail.<ref name=Berman /> In addition, state constitutions are often easier to amend than the federal constitution.<ref name=Berman />

Individual states differ in the difficulty of constitutional amendments.<ref name="Tarr">George Alan Tarr, ed. Constitutional Politics in the States, Greenwood Publishing Group (1996),  pp. 40-45 [https://books.google.com/books?id=DJVIgRtDzgEC&dq=each+u.s.+state+has+a+different+process+for+constitutional+amendment&pg=PA44]</ref>  Some states allow for initiating the amendment process through the action of the state legislature or by popular initiative.<ref name=Tarr />

===== California =====
{{see also|Livermore v. Waite}}
There are three methods for proposing an amendment to the [[California Constitution|California State Constitution]]: by the [[California Legislature|legislature]], by constitutional convention, or by voter initiative. A proposed amendment must be approved by a majority of voters.

With the legislative method, a proposed amendment must be approved by an [[supermajority|absolute supermajority]] of two-thirds of the membership of each house.

With the convention method, the legislature may, by a two-thirds absolute supermajority, submit to the voters at a general election the question whether to call a convention to revise the Constitution. If the majority of the voters vote yes on that question, within six months the Legislature shall provide for the convention. Delegates to a constitutional convention shall be voters elected from districts as nearly equal in population as may be practicable. The constitution does not provide any rules for the operation of the constitutional convention.

With the initiative method, an amendment is proposed by a petition signed by voters equal in number to 8% of the votes for all candidates for governor at the last gubernatorial election. The proposed amendment is then submitted to the voters at a general or special election.

===== New York =====
There are two methods of proposing amendments to the [[New York Constitution]]. All proposed amendments must be approved by a majority of voters in a referendum.

With the legislative method, an amendment proposal must be published for three months, then approved by an [[absolute majority]] of the members of each of the two houses, and approved again in a succeeding term of the houses, with an election intervening. Finally, the amendment proposal must be submitted to the people, and for ratification must be approved by a simple majority.

With the convention method, a constitutional convention must be convened by a majority vote of voters in a general election (referendum) on the question.

===== Tennessee =====
There are two methods for proposing amendments to the [[Tennessee State Constitution]]: through the legislature and by constitutional convention. Proposed amendments must be approved by a majority of voters in a referendum.

With the legislative method, the [[Tennessee General Assembly]] passes a resolution calling for an amendment and stating its wording. This must pass in three separate readings on three separate days, with an [[absolute majority]] on all readings. It does not require the [[governor]]'s approval. It must then be published at least six months before the next legislative election in [[newspaper]]s of wide and general circulation. (This is done by [[precedent]] but is not required by law.) After the election, the proposed amendment must go through the same procedure (absolute majority on three separate readings). Then it is put on the ballot as a referendum in the next gubernatorial election. To be ratified it must again achieve an absolute majority of those voting in the gubernatorial election.

With the convention method, the legislature can put on any ballot the question of whether to call a [[constitutional convention (political meeting)|constitutional convention]]. It must be stated whether the convention is limited or unlimited—that is, whether it can only amend the current constitution or totally abolish it and write a new one. If limited, the call must state which provisions of the current constitution are to be subject to amendment, and the subsequent convention, if approved, is limited to considering only amendments to the provisions specified in the call. The proposed amendments must then be submitted to the electorate and approved by a majority of those voting in the election. A constitutional convention cannot be held more frequently than once every six years.

===== Texas =====
The only method for proposing an amendment to the [[Texas State Constitution]] is through the legislature, either in regular or special session. The governor may call a special session, and specify the agenda for the session. To become part of the constitution, proposed amendments must be approved by a majority of voters in a referendum. Texas has had six different constitutions and the current constitution, adopted in 1876, has been amended 474 times.{{Cn|date=January 2025}}

A proposed amendment must be approved by an [[supermajority|absolute supermajority]] of two-thirds of the elected membership of each house of the legislature. It is submitted to the voters in an election specified by the legislature. The wording of an explanatory statement that will appear on the ballot must be approved by the [[Texas Attorney General]] and printed in newspapers. The full text of the amendment must be posted by all county clerks for 30 days before the election.

===== Washington =====
The only method for proposing an amendment to the [[Washington State Constitution]] is through the legislature and can originate in either branch. The proposal must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the legislature. The proposed amendment is placed on the ballot at the next general election and must be approved by a majority of the voters.