Alabamians voted at the November 8, 2022, general election to pass the Alabama Constitution of 2022.

The new Constitution replaces the 1901 Constitution removing racist language and organizing amendments according to topic. The recompilation proposal received over 886,000 votes (76.5%), according to unofficial returns compiled by the Alabama Secretary of State’s office.

“Legally speaking, that racist language is already void because it violates equal protection and the U.S. Constitution,” former Solicitor General of Alabama John Neiman said to the Dothan Eagle. “But practically speaking, it is really important for us to vote that racist language out of our state constitution.”

That would make a profound statement about who we are, and who we want to be.

“When we say, ‘No longer are we that 1901 Alabama — that again, we know this from the transcripts — is rooted in white supremacy, deliberately disenfranchised Black voters, that we can say we now have a new document that spells out who we are today: That gives me hope in the future for the state of Alabama,” said Rep. Merika Coleman (D-Birmingham), who sponsored the legislation to recompile the constitution.

Most state and national constitutions lay out broad principles, set the basic structure of the government, and impose limitations on governmental power. Alabama’s constitution takes a more detailed approach, requiring constitutional amendments for basic changes that would be made by the Legislature or by local governments in most states. Three-quarters of the amendments to the Alabama Constitution, the longest in the world, pertain to particular local governments.

Amendments go so far as to establish pay rates of public officials and spell out local property tax rates. A recent amendment, Amendment 921, grants municipal governments in Baldwin County the power to regulate traffic, more specifically golf carts on public streets.