The Last Three Questions on Norfolk's Ballot Are the Ones That Last Longest
Virginia's proposed constitutional amendments print in dense legal language and bind for generations. A plain guide for Hampton Roads voters before Tuesday.
Below the last candidate's name on every Norfolk ballot sit three questions that most voters will read standing up, in a booth, with a line behind them. They are proposed amendments to the Constitution of Virginia — passed twice by the General Assembly with an election in between, and now awaiting the only approval that counts: yours.
Constitutional amendments are not ordinary legislation. A yes vote writes the change into the state's founding document, where it stays until a future generation of voters removes it; a no vote leaves the current constitution exactly as it is. The ballot's summary is a compression of longer legal text — the Virginia Department of Elections publishes the full amendments and plain-language explanations, and Norfolk voters can read their complete sample ballot, questions included, on the Citizen Portal before Tuesday.
Why these questions ride on a federal ballot: Virginia times its constitutional referenda to general elections, and 2026's federal midterm is the statewide vote this cycle offers. That is also why the amendments deserve a voter's weekday attention rather than a booth-side guess — they will outlast whichever members of Congress Tuesday sends to Washington.
Practicalities: you may bring notes or a marked sample ballot into the booth; you may skip any question and your other votes still count; and the officers of election can explain the mechanics, though not the politics, of the page. Read the three questions at home. The constitution is the one part of Tuesday that is permanent.