Louisiana voters rejected an antislavery ballot measure. The reasons are complicated
Voters in four states — Vermont, Oregon, Alabama and Tennessee — approved antislavery ballot measures in the 2022 elections. The Louisiana amendment may have failed, in part, because of confusion.
Out of five states that put measures to voters on the subject, Louisiana voters were the only ones to vote against banning slavery and involuntary servitude in the state constitution, according to calls by The Associated Press. This year, in Vermont, Oregon, Alabama and Tennessee, voters decided to ban slavery and involuntary servitude.
The United States abolished slavery in 1865 with the 13th Amendment. But it makes an exception for slavery as "punishment for crime." Many states followed suit with similar exception clauses to individual state constitutions.
In Colorado in 2018,
