Voters turn down constitutional convention

A movement to call for a convention to amend Iowa's Constitution was rejected by voters Tuesday.

With nearly all of the precincts reporting by 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, 67 percent of Iowa voters turned down a measure that would have opened the state's Constitution up for change.

There was no organized push for a “yes” vote on the constitutional convention this year, but the Iowa Catholic Conference encouragedthe vote in reaction to last year's same-sex marriage ruling. Although that group opposes the ruling that overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, all parts of the state's Constitution would be open for potential change, according to Todd Pettys, a University of Iowa law professor.

The Rev. Tom Capo, pastor of Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist in Cedar Rapids, was pleased voters rejected the convention.

“I think if that had been the case a lot of things would have been on the table, it would probably mean lots of changes and I don't think anyone wants that,” he said.

“There are these people speaking very loudly from a very conservative point of view, and many of them are from out of state,” Capo said.

Tom Chapman, executive director of the Des Moines-based Iowa Catholic Conference, said he wasn't surprised by Tuesday's vote.

“I think we're disappointed but not surprised,” he said. “We didn't really have the resources to do the explaining of the issue that we really needed to do.”

He said that while the constitutional convention was rejected, the conference efforts for a marriage amendment are far from over.

“We were pretty clear up front that our goal was to work for a marriage amendment,” he said. “Looking at the chambers of the legislature now, we'll make a push for that again there.”

Iowa's Constitution requires that every 10 years voters be asked if a convention should be held for the purpose of amending the Constitution. Voters approved a convention only once, in 1920, but the convention was never held. That push was to determine whether it was legal for farmers to establish cooperatives.