Rhode Island’s first statewide ballot question is an outlier in more than one way, observers say.
When Rhode Islanders vote in the general election, Question 1 will be whether the Ocean State should hold a constitutional convention – a question voters are asked every 10 years under the state constitution. The convention opens the door to amending the document that forms the basis of the state’s supreme law.
For one, it’s the sole question among five that doesn’t ask voters to approve or reject bond funding – though, it does come with a price tag, as holding such a convention would cost Rhode Island an estimated $4.6 million, according to a bipartisan state commission.
In another feature that sets it apart from the remaining questions, which ask voters to approve $343.5 million in bonds collectively, Question 1 is the only ballot question that’s prompted organized opposition.
“We don’t see [an oppositional campaign] too often,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “Most ballot questions are bond questions, and those typically don’t draw ‘no’ campaigns.”
Read related story about other ballot questions here.
But the constitutional convention is something of an outlier even nationally. Rhode Island is one of just five states in the U.S. to uphold the possibility of the gathering to consider amendments to its constitution, and it hasn’t held such a meeting since 1986. Since that time, no other state has held a constitutional convention, either.
As voters consider the question, a partisan split has emerged around it. The state Democratic party has formally endorsed the “no” campaign, alongside a coalition of dozens of organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island Inc. and Planned Parenthood of Southern New England.
Proponents of the “Reject Question 1” campaign say that holding the convention provides wealthy, out-of-state interest groups with an opportunity to alter Rhode Island law in a manner that threatens values such as abortion access and civil rights – issues that they say are particularly sensitive given the current political atmosphere and U.S. Supreme Court decisions such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which had previously established a nationwide right to abortions.
The state’s Republican party and leadership, meanwhile, have largely organized in favor of the convention, arguing that it allows the average Rhode Islander to have a greater say in state politics. Proponents of the gathering also say that the opposition has overstated the risk of outside interests interfering in Rhode Island politics.
But those against the constitutional convention say the gathering has already threatened Rhode Islanders’ rights in decades past.
“Across the country issues like affirmative action, reproductive rights, gay rights, worker rights, senior citizen rights and immigrant rights have become fodder for expensive statewide campaigns mounted by well-funded, out-of-state special interests,” said Pablo Rodriguez, former medical director of Planned Parenthood Rhode Island.
“The 1986 Constitutional Convention in Rhode Island quickly spiraled from ‘good government’ to abortion politics,” Rodriguez said in a statement shared by the state Democratic Party.
While the greatest threat to abortion rights was rejected at the 1986 convention, Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, says interest groups were able to weaken protections through lesser-known measures bundled into other proposals and obscured by a crowded ballot.
Common Cause Rhode Island, a bipartisan organization dedicated to promoting civic engagement and voting access, was split among its own board, Marion says. Ultimately, the group decided to take a neutral position on Question 1.
“We recognize that the convention could pose a threat, but we also recognize that there could be the opportunity to achieve reforms that would otherwise be difficult to get through the [General Assembly],” Marion said. “Those values were in conflict with one another,” driving the board’s stance.
The group took the same stance in 2014 but opposed the convention in 2004.
As for voters, a MassINC Polling Group survey showed Rhode Islanders nearly split on the issue in late September. In that poll, 36% of respondents said that they would vote for a constitutional convention, 33% would reject the measure and 32% were undecided.
