Amendments to the New York State Constitution of 1821

1826. [Qualifications of voters.]—That so much of the first section of the second article of the Constitution as prescribes the qualifications of voters, other than persons of color, be and the same is hereby abolished, and that the following be substituted in the place thereof:

Every male citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been an inhabitant of this state one year next preceding any election, and for the last six months a resident of the county where he may offer his vote, shall be entitled to vote in the town or ward where he actually resides, and not elsewhere, for all officers that now are or hereafter may be elective by the people.

1826. [Justices of the peace, how chosen and classified.]— That the people of this state, in their several towns, shall, at their annual election, and in such manner as the legislature shall direct, elect by ballot their justices of the peace; and the justices so elected in any town shall immediately thereafter meet together, and, in presence of the supervisor and town clerk of the said town, be divided by lot into four classes, of one in each class, and be numbered one, two, three, and four; and the office of number one shall expire at the end of the first year; of number two at the end of the second year; of number three at the end of the third year; and of number four at the end of the fourth year, in order that one justice may thereafter be annually elected; and that so much of the seventh section of the fourth article of the Constitution of this state as is inconsistent with this amendment, be abrogated.

1833. [Election of mayor in New York.]—At the end of the tenth section of the fourth article of the said Constitution, add the following words: "Except in the city of New York, in which the mayor shall be chosen annually by the electors thereof qualified to vote for the other charter officers of the said city, and at the time of the election of such officers."

1833. [Duties on salt.]—That the duties on the manufacture of salt, as established by the act of the fifteenth of April, one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, and by the tenth section of the seventh article of the Constitution of this state, may at any time hereafter be reduced by an act of the legislature of this state; but shall not, while the same is appropriated and pledged by the said section, be reduced below the sum of six cents upon each and every bushel; and the said duties shall remain inviolably appropriated and applied as is provided by the said tenth section; and that so much of the said tenth section of the seventh article of the Constitution of this state as is inconsistent with this amendment be abrogated.

1835. [Canals; duties on salt; auction sales.]—Whenever a sufficient amount of money shall be collected and safely invested for the reimbursement of such part as may then be unpaid of the money borrowed for the construction of the Erie and Champlain canals, the tenth section of the seventh article of the Constitution of this state, so far as it relates to the amount of duties on the manufacture of salt, and the amount of duties on goods sold at auction, shall cease and determine; and thereafter the duties on goods sold at auction, excepting therefrom the sum of thirty-three thousand five hundred dollars, otherwise appropriated by the act of the fifteenth of April; one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, and the duties on the manufacture of salt, shall be restored to the general fund.

1839. [Election of mayor.]—Mayors of the several cities in this state may be elected annually by the male inhabitants entitled to vote for members of the common council of such cities respectively, in such manner as the legislature shall by law provide; and the legislature may, from time to time, make such provision by law for the election of any one or more of such mayors; but until such provision be made by law, such mayor (excepting the mayor of the city of New York) shall be appointed in the manner now prescribed by the Constitution of this state; and . so much of the tenth section of article fourth of the Constitution of this state as is inconsistent with this amendment is hereby abrogated.

1845. [Procedure on removal of judicial officers.]—No judicial officer shall be removed by the joint resolution of the two houses of the legislature, or by the senate, on the recommendation of the governor, unless the cause of such removal shall be entered on the journal of both houses, or of the senate, as the case may be; and such officer against whom the legislature or the senate may be about to proceed shall be served with notice thereof, accompanied with a copy of the causes alleged for his removal, at least twenty days before the day on which either house shall act thereupon, and shall have an opportunity to be heard in his defense before any question shall be taken upon such removal; and the yeas and nays shall be entered upon the journals of the senate, or houses, as the case may be.

1845. [Abrogating property qualifications to office.]—No property qualification shall be required to render a person eligible to or capable of holding any office or public trust in this state.