- Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex or sexual orientation.
- No state or Congress shall deny or abridge the right for any two consenting adults to obtain a marriage license.
- All marriage licenses shall be permitted to be revoked by either person without consideration as to the reason, so as to legalize no-fault divorce. Marriage licenses shall not be abridged on account of race.
- The Census shall include questions of languages fluently spoken by each individual counted.
- The following federal services shall provide translated materials for the top four most spoken languages in the United States: voting and elections, court and legal documentation, health and safety services, taxation, and social services. These translations shall be phased in over a four-year period following completion of the next Census, with at least one new language added per year until all four are implemented.
- All people seeking redress in the United States legal system will be entitled to file lawsuits. In all criminal cases, the United States government, states, territories, or county governments will be required to provide an attorney on the government's payroll.
- The right of free travel and movement within the United States, and for the purposes of immigration, whether from those inside or outside the United States, shall not be infringed.
- All individuals residing outside of the United States shall have the right to seek asylum in the United States.
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All income tax payers, citizens, and the children of each shall be
entitled to a free and appropriate public education. The standards
of this education shall be legislated by Congress, and shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:
- Funding for special education programs for students with physical, learning, or behavioral impairments.
- An understanding of numbers and the natural world. Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and natural and physical science.
- An understanding of the most spoken language in the United States, as per the Census. Reading, writing, and analysis.
- An understanding of national, state, and universal civics. An understanding in world and United States history. An understanding of the diverse sides to each conflict studied. Sociocultural analysis of ancient civilizations and world religions, with emphasis on their origins, development, traditions, and continuing impacts on contemporary societies.
- Congress shall have the power to enforce this section through appropriate legislation.
- This section shall take effect two years after ratification of this amendment.
- Citizens shall have the right to vote in all federal elections. States may, by their own decision, participate in a system whereby their electors shall be bound by law to cast their vote for the candidate that has received the majority of the nationwide popular vote, or the popular vote of that respective state. States must choose to allocate their electors by either of those outcomes. A State that allocates its electors based on its own popular vote shall apportion such electors in proportion to the percentage of votes received by each candidate within that State, rounding to the nearest whole elector as prescribed by Congress.
- No state may deprive or attempt to deprive any citizen aged 18 years or older of the right to vote.
- All citizens shall have the right to elect all state and federal officers, previously elected, via direct representative election; state legislatures may not elect officials on behalf of citizens.
- The President and Vice President shall be elected on the same ticket. Electors for the election of the President and Vice President will be selected via ranked-choice voting run by its sovereign government, whether state, federal, or territorial.
- All United States nationals residing in territories shall have the right to vote in presidential elections and shall receive representation in the House of Representatives proportionate to the existing districting system.
- The provisions of this section shall take effect in the next federal election following ratification, or, if that election would take place one year or less after the ratification of this amendment, this section shall take effect in the federal election following the next.
- Slavery and indentured servitude are prohibited in all forms, including for prisoners.
- All those held in the United States must be held in its care directly, on public land, with no allowance for private involvement, except for the purposes of hiring or contracting prison officials.
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No state may restrict the right of prisoners to vote, except as a
punishment upon conviction for crimes involving moral turpitude.
Moral turpitude is, in this amendment, defined as a crime
involving the following:
- The direct harm of another, or conspiracy to commit the same, including murder, assault, rape, kidnapping or domestic violence.
- The unlawful denial of goods and/or services to government, private organizations, or people, including robbery, fraud, theft, embezzlement, arson, or forgery.
- Upon completion of a sentence and the lapsing of five years, those previously denied the right to vote due to serving for a crime will be eligible to regain their voting rights.
- This section, and the beginning of counting for purposes of fulfilling its fourth clause, will take effect five years after ratification of this amendment.
- States, if their populations are below five hundred thousand, shall each be granted one seat. Territorial delegates shall gain full membership in the House and the rights and powers therein. If there are enough territories with fewer than five hundred thousand persons to equal an amount greater than or equal to five hundred thousand persons, they shall be grouped together for the purposes of representation. For every five hundred thousand persons in a state or territory, one representative will be assigned to a pool corresponding to that state or territory. States shall be granted their share of seats from this pool, forming them into districts containing three or more seats. Districts must have roughly equivalent population, with the sum of their differences in population not totaling zero point seven five per cent or more. States must attempt to minimize the amount of one- or two- member districts in the remainder. Any leftover seats after division into groups of three or more shall be assigned as additional districts to contain the one or two remaining seats.
- Congress shall have the authority to define voting systems that guarantee proportional representation, that act in fair regard to the choices of voters, and that promote competitive elections.
- Representatives shall serve four-year terms. No representative may serve more than three full terms, plus one partial term if filling a vacancy.
- Elections shall be staggered into two classes. All representatives in a state or territory will be elected in the same class. A federal commission will be summoned to determine which states or territories will fall into each class, with geographically delineated eastern and western classes. Both classes should have as close to the same amount of representatives as possible. This commission will meet upon the completion of every fifth Census, equal to the lapsing of fifty years.
- No rule shall be enforced in the House of Representatives or the Senate abridging the ability to pass laws by simple majority. The House of Representatives may override a presidential veto with three fifths consent of that chamber. The Senate may block passage of constitutional amendments with three fifths consent of that chamber.
- Any measure introduced in the House of Representatives which has been co-sponsored by a majority of the total membership of that chamber shall be brought to a final vote within thirty legislative days of introduction or certification of such majority. No officer or committee of the House shall have authority to delay or prevent such a vote.
- This Section shall take effect immediately after ratification of this amendment, with the commission being summoned to determine the class system for the next federal election, or, if that election would take place one year or less after the ratification of this amendment, their determination shall take effect in the federal election following the next.
- Consent of the Senate shall no longer be required to pass legislation, excepting constitutional amendments. The Senate may propose an amendment or set of amendments on bills for consideration by the House of Representatives, up for consent by vote on the floor of the House, for up to five rounds per each amendment or set, and for six months after the House sends the bill to the Senate, until the legislation will advance. If the Senate does not propose amendments, nor confirm the legislation, after six months, the legislation will advance.
- Four seats in the Senate shall be allocated for citizens in the United States not living in a state. They shall be apportioned to each serve a quarter of the territorial populations, split along geographical lines as districts in the House are.
- This section will take effect immediately after ratification.
- All individuals who are lawful residents and citizens of the United States, who are over the age of 18, and who are legally competent, shall have full voting rights in the jurisdiction in which they reside.
- All individuals who are lawful residents and are legally competent, with no exception for age, and who pay income taxes to any state, territory, or the federal government, shall have full voting rights in the jurisdiction in which they reside.
- All individuals granted voting rights who have evaded taxes in the preceding five years shall have their voting rights suspended no longer than the duration of any sentence, probation, or restitution order. Evasion is defined as conviction for willful tax evasion, fraud, or similar financial crimes involving taxation.
- Those citizens residing abroad shall retain their right to vote so long as they continue to pay any income taxes legally owed, or if exempt from taxation under U.S. law. A citizen living abroad who neither pays nor owes income taxes for five or more years, and has not visited U.S. territory in that time, shall have their right to vote in federal elections paused until they reestablish residence or tax liability.
- All those held by the state shall not be required to pay income taxes to maintain their voting rights for the duration of their holding.
- All States must require eligible citizens to present valid voter identification, or a United States passport, in order to cast a ballot.
- All States must provide a voter identification card to all those eligible to vote. This process will be allowed to be completed in person, by mail, and online. Attainment of a state voter identification card and a United States passport shall both be free of charge. No State may attempt any extreme or unusual measures to make it difficult to attain a voter identification card, including but not limited to a literacy test. The deadline for obtaining a voter identification card in order to vote shall fall, at the latest, two months before the election in question. Persons may not be compelled to obtain a voter identification card. States may automatically expire voter registration cards after no less than 20 years. States must provide notification to persons who have had their card expire.
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All states must ensure auditability of election processes.
Specific standards shall be legislated by Congress. The standards
must include:
- 100% of eligible voters must have access to obtain a voter ID within their county of residence.
- All ballots must be auditable and verifiable for accuracy.
- Voting locations must be within 20 miles of 95% of the population in each district.
- Ballots cast shall not identify the voter who cast them, past the assurance of eligibility.
- This section shall take effect two years after ratification.
- The Fourth Amendment shall be extended to include an explicit right to bodily autonomy.
- No government authority may abridge the right to abortion, elective surgery, the taking of medication in any form, or any other bodily operation not causing direct and imminent harm to others’ health or property.
- This section shall take effect two years after ratification.
- Four new seats on the Supreme Court shall be added.
- All appointed members of the judicial branch shall serve at most two terms lasting eight years each.
- All justices of the Supreme Court except for the Chief Justice, and all judges serving on federal district courts, shall be subject to retention elections, held at the national level through a vote of the people, at the end of their first term.
- Terms for Supreme Court justices shall be staggered into four classes, with three justices up for retention elections every four years. For district courts, one third of each bench will be up for retention every four years.
- The judicial review provisions established in Marbury v. Madison shall be the law of the land.
- No political party may designate, nominate, or claim a judicial candidate or sitting judge as belonging to it on official ballots or party registration. Parties may issue endorsements or advertisements, or recommend candidates through communications separate from ballot designation.
- This section shall take effect immediately after ratification of this amendment. The seats of current justices, will be assigned to their respective classes by random lot, or if they can do so with unanimous consent among themselves, by self-selection by each justice. The class system for the district courts shall be determined by the new federal congressional commission and will be subject to change at the same term as congressional districts.
- Congress shall implement all provisions of this amendment through appropriate legislation within ten years of ratification.
- Congress may not extend this ten-year deadline.
- No state or Congress may abridge the provisions of this amendment.
- If any section of this amendment is not fully implemented within the deadline, Congress shall be prohibited from passing laws unrelated to completing full implementation. The authority of the Senate to send amendments back to the House will be paused until full implementation has been accomplished.
TODO: campaign finance, judicial transparency, economic
restrictions on congresspeople (stock trading and such), limits on
federal law enforcement, electoral runoffs, and probably more