Language related to the powers given to the three branches of Alabama government is currently contained in two parts of the State Constitution. The first part, known as Article III, divides state government into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and says that one branch “shall never” exercise the powers of the other two branches. The second part, known as Amendment 582, says that the state is required to follow a state court order to spend state funds only after the spending has been approved by a majority of the Legislature.

Amendment 5 does two things. First, it combines Article III and Amendment 582 into the same part of the State Constitution. Second, it removes words and phrases that are no longer commonly used; for example, outdated phrases such as “body of magistracy” and “to wit” are deleted. Because all other changes are technical – for instance, where the current law says that one branch “shall never” exercise the powers of the other two branches, the new law would say that one branch “may not” exercise the powers of the other two branches – Amendment 5 really does nothing more than combine and restate current law.

If a majority of voters vote “Yes” on Amendment 5, the parts of the State Constitution that deal with the separation of powers between the branches of state government will be contained in the same place and will not include outdated language.

If a majority of voters vote “No” on Amendment 5, the parts of the State Constitution that deal with the separation of powers between the branches of state government will remain separate and will still contain outdated language.