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DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): Dele-
gate Needle.
DELEGATE NEEDLE: Mr. Chairman,
I would like to ask unanimous consent to
make a style change in the amendment.
The clause within the commas on lines 11
through 13, reading "is filed with the office
of governor to refer to the voters the ques-
tion of calling a constitutional convention"
should be inserted after the comma on line
5.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): Line
what?
DELEGATE NEEDLE: Line 5 of the
amendment.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding):
Where does the comma go no line 5 then?
DELEGATE NEEDLE: The clause
would be inserted after the comma which
follows the word "petition". The clause
would be within commas.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): The
language you read would be transposed
after the word "petition"?
DELEGATE NEEDLE: Yes.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): Does
everyone understand that amendment?
Delegate Needle suggests as a matter of
style that it should read "If a petition is
filed with the office of Governor to refer to
the voters the question of calling a consti-
tutional convention" — , and then it pro-
vides, "signed by a number of qualified
voters", et cetera.
Is there any objection to the modifica-
tion?
Delegate Sybert.
DELEGATE SYBERT: I have objec-
tion, because it seems to me it should come
after the comma in line 9. Then it will
make sense.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): Does
Delegate Needle wish to consider the
matter further?
DELEGATE NEEDLE: Mr. Chairman,
if there is any dispute about it, I would
be perfectly willing to leave it to the Style
Committee. It is strictly a style sugges-
tion. Any way it goes it does not change
the meaning at all.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): You
adhere to your original amendment?
DELEGATE NEEDLE: Leave it the
way it was originally stated, and leave to
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the Style Committee to change, if they
want to.
DELEGATE JAMES (presiding): Will
you speak to the amendment?
DELEGATE NEEDLE: This would
write into section 10.03 the ability of the
people by petition to call a constitutional
convention. This amendment iwas offered to
you on first reading and lost by a very
slight margin. Since that time we have en-
acted certain provisions in the Constitu-
tion which may not be to the entire liking
of all delegates, and perhaps now this
amendment might be more acceptable. It
is now very important, I think, to support
this amendment, that is, initiative pro-
cedure on calling a constitutional conven-
tion, in view of the action of this body
yesterday when it defeated initiative pro-
cedure for amendment of the Constitution.
Some persons have expressed a concern
that we in this Constitutional Convention
have taken some measure of government
from the people. I do not agree with that,
but here is an opportunity for those so con-
cerned to give a large slice of government
back to the people. A constitutional con-
vention, the drafting of a constitution is
the most basic exercise of sovereign right
of the people. They should have the ability,
I feel, to call the constitutional convention,
in addition to the ability of the General
Assembly to call that constitutional con-
vention or place the question of calling a
convention on the ballot. Remember that
if the General Assembly does not do so, it
will not be on the ballot but every twenty
years. That is quite a period of time.
I feel that the people, the voters of this
State, should have the ability within that
period of time to place the question on the
ballot. The mere filing of a petition does
not call a constitutional convention. It only
brings into action four steps: First, the
filing of a petition which would require at
least ten percent of those who voted in the
most recent gubernatorial election, not
more than one-fourth of any of them being
from one county. The procedural require-
ments there are exactly twice as difficult
as a referendum procedure, intentionally.
Secondly, it only places the question on the
ballot, and the voters then at the next
election would have the opportunity to in-
dicate if they want the calling of a con-
stitutional convention.
Thirdly, an outstanding deliberative
body I think such as ours would have an
opportunity to determine whether or not
there should be a revision of the constitu-
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