Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1853 - Results

Results

On November 11, 1853, the proposals of the Constitutional Convention were placed before the voters. Every single proposal, including the new Constitution, went down in defeat. The results for individual questions are shown below.

#1 (New Constitution)
Voted Yes Percent Yes Voted No Percent No
63,222 48.1 68,150 51.9
#2 (Habeas corpus broadened)
Voted Yes Percent Yes Voted No Percent No
63,382 48.6 67,006 51.4
#3 (Right of Jury nullification)
Voted Yes Percent Yes Voted No Percent No
61,699 47.4 68,382 52.6
#4 (Judicial investigations against the Commonwealth permitted)
Voted Yes Percent Yes Voted No Percent No
63,805 48.9 66,828 51.1
#5 (Restraints upon imprisonment of debtors increased)
Voted Yes Percent Yes Voted No Percent No
64,015 49.1 66,432 50.9
#6 (State funding of religious schools prohibited)
Voted Yes Percent Yes Voted No Percent No
65,111 49.85 65,512 50.15
#7 (Businesses incorporated under general, not special, laws)
Voted Yes Percent Yes Voted No Percent No
63,246 48.6 67,011 51.4
#8 (Banks incorporated under general, not special, laws; banknotes redeemed in specie)
Voted Yes Percent Yes Voted No Percent No
63,412 48.6 67,109 51.4

The counties of Barnstable, Dukes, Essex, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, and Suffolk rejected every proposal. On the other hand, the counties of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Worcester voted in favor of each proposal, with support strongest in Worcester County, which approved each question by a margin of around 13,000 to 7,500. Bristol County was nearly evenly split on the questions, with proposals 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 carrying by margins of 31, 15, 74, 7, 54, and 35, respectively, while proposals 3 and 6 lost by 115 and 32 votes, respectively.

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