Alabama has had six constitutions, the most recent one dating from 1901. By January 2003 that document had been amended 743 times. In 2002 amid calls for a constitutional convention, voters approved a constitutional amendment providing that no constitution could be adopted without voter approval. Governor Robert Riley, elected in 2002, appointed a constitutional commission to prepare recommendations on reforms in 2003.
Alabama's bicameral legislature consists of a 35-seat senate and a 105-seat house of representatives, all of whose members are elected at the same time for four-year terms. Legislative sessions are held each year, convening in early January in general election years, in late April in years following general election years, and in early February all other years. Session length is limited to 30 legislative days in 105 calendar days. Only the governor may call special sessions, which are limited to 12 legislative days in 30 calendar days. Senators must be at least 25 years old; representatives, 21. Legislators must have resided in the state for at least three years before election and in the district at least one year. Under federal pressure, the legislature in 1983 approved a reapportionment plan, effective in 1986, that was expected to increase black representation. In 2002 Alabama's legislators received a per diem salary of $10 during regular sessions; each member is also paid $32.50 per diem for the performance of his or her duties as a member of any authorized interim legislative committee or subcommittee. Legislators in 2002 received living expenses in the amount of $2,280 per month plus $50 per day for three days per week that the legislature actually meets. Legislators' terms of office begin on the day after election and expire on the day after election four years later.
State elected officials are the governor and lieutenant-governor (separately elected), secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, auditor, commissioner of agriculture and industries, and three members of the Public Service Commission. The governor, who serves for four years, must be at least 30 years old and must have been a US citizen for ten years and a citizen of the state for seven. The governor is limited to a maximum of two consecutive terms. As of 2002 Alabama's governor earned a salary of $101,432, and was entitled to reimbursement of travel expenses up to $40 per day for travel within Alabama, and for total actual expenses outside the state.
A bill becomes a law when it is passed by at least a majority of a quorum of both houses and is either signed by the governor or left unsigned for six days (Sundays excluded) while the legislature is in session, or passed over the governor's veto by a majority of the elected members of each house. A bill must pass both houses in the same form. The governor may pocket veto a measure submitted fewer than five days before adjournment by not signing it within ten days after adjournment. The governor has the power to approve or disapprove any particular item of an appropriation bill without vetoing the entire bill. Vetoed items are returned to the legislature while the remainder of the bill becomes law.
The submission of a constitutional amendment to the electorate requires the approval of three-fifths of the membership of each house, but such amendments can also be adopted by constitutional convention. Amendments are ratified by a majority vote of the electorate.
Voters in Alabama must be US citizens, state and county citizens, and at least 18 years old. Restrictions apply to convicted felons and those declared mentally incompetent by the court.