Current Issues:
See Advocacy>Legislative Advocacy>Electoral Democracy for testimonies and updates related to this topic.
Related reading:
Why We Don't Want a Constitutional Convention by Holley Ulbrich
Position:
Statement of LWVUS Position on Constitutional Conventions under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, as announced by the National Board, January 2016:
The League is concerned that there are many unresolved questions about the powers and processes of an Article V Constitutional Convention. The League believes such a convention should be called only if the following conditions are in place:
a) The Constitutional Convention must be transparent and not conducted in secret. The public has a right to know what is being debated and voted on;
b) Representation at the Constitutional Convention must be based on population rather than one-state, one-vote, and delegates should be elected rather than appointed. The delegates represent citizens, should be elected by them and must be distributed by the U.S. population;
c) Voting at the Constitutional Convention must be by delegate, not by state. Delegates from one state can have varying views and should be able to express them by individual votes;
d) The Constitutional Convention must be limited to a specific topic. It is important to guard against a “runaway convention” which considers multiple issues or topics that were not initiated by the states;
e) Only state resolutions on a single topic count when determining if a Constitutional Convention should be called. Counting state requests by topic ensures that there is sufficient interest in a particular subject to call a Convention and enhances citizen interest and participation in the process; and
f) The validity of state calls for an Article V Constitutional Convention must be determined by the most recent action of the state. If a state has enacted a rescission of its call, that rescission must be respected by Congress.
