A handful of wealthy special interest groups are just a few states away from calling a new constitutional convention. Under Article V of the Constitution, Congress is required to convene a constitutional convention if two-thirds of state legislatures (34 states) call for one.
No convention has ever been called under Article V for a reason: there is just too much at stake.
An Article V constitutional convention is a dangerous path that puts all of our cherished rights, civil liberties, and freedoms at risk. Our right to vote, our right to free speech, our reproductive rights, our citizenship rules, and more could all be up for grabs.
With no rules and complete uncertainty about the constitutional process, an Article V convention would cause political and economic chaos. There is no language in the U.S. Constitution to limit a convention to one issue, no guidelines for rules to govern a convention, no rules on who picks the delegates and how they are selected, no guarantee that the American people would be equally represented, and no limits on corporate special interest influence.
Ultimately, this process would lead to long and costly legal battles, uncertainty about how our democracy functions, and likely economic instability.
Together, we can stop the wealthy special interest groups, including the Koch Brothers and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), who are spending big money to lobby state lawmakers and demanding an Article V convention to radically reshape our U.S. Constitution.
We have the expertise, the nonpartisan reputation, and the grassroots power to fight back. We’re building coalitions with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to defend our Constitution from the far-right’s Article V power grab.