It has undemocratic origins.
The main objectives of the framers of the 1901 Constitution were to remove the voting rights of African-Americans and poor whites in Alabama while centralizing power in the hands of a few special interests in Montgomery.
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- These goals were achieved with astounding success. By 1903, the number of African-American citizens registered to vote had dropped from 181,000 to less than 4,000, and over 40,000 white citizens had lost their right to vote as well.
- Although the infamous voting restrictions of 1901 were overturned by federal courts, evidence of this embarrassing legacy still remains in our Constitution today, and the centralization of power remains as strong as ever.
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