This Constitution shall be ratified only by the People of the United States acting through a national ratification vote conducted in each State and eligible territory under uniform constitutional standards.
Ratification shall require:
This Constitution shall not take effect only in some States and not in others.
Until the ratification requirements of this Article are fully satisfied and duly certified, the prior constitutional order shall remain in force except as otherwise lawfully provided for preparatory acts consistent with peaceful transition.
All permanent inhabited territories and possessions of the United States existing at the time of ratification shall have the right to participate in the national ratification vote in the manner prescribed by this Constitution and by law.
Their votes shall be included in the national popular total.
Unless admitted as States before ratification is certified, territories shall not be counted as States for the state-based ratification threshold, but their lawful participation shall confer entry into the constitutional order established by this Constitution and all rights secured thereby according to its terms.
No vote for ratification shall be held unless the full text of this Constitution has been publicly published and continuously made accessible to the people for not fewer than one hundred eighty days before the first day on which votes may be cast.
During that period, the United States shall provide for public notice, open debate, archival preservation of the proposed text, and the publication of plain-language explanatory materials sufficient to inform the people of the structure, powers, rights, and changes proposed.
The Legislature shall by law provide uniform national rules governing the time, manner, security, transparency, auditing, recounts, challenges, and certification of ratification votes, provided that no such law shall deny equal political participation, dilute lawful votes, or impair the free and fair expression of the will of the people.
Such laws shall include safeguards for accessibility, ballot integrity, public observation, and prompt resolution of disputes.
The lawful results of ratification shall be canvassed, audited, and certified in the manner prescribed by this Constitution and by law.
The Censorial Branch shall certify the official numerical results of the national ratification vote and the State-by-State vote totals.
The Supreme Court of the United States shall possess original and final jurisdiction over contests arising under this Article, and shall resolve such contests with the utmost priority.
When the requirements of this Article have been satisfied and all necessary certifications and judgments have been entered, ratification shall be proclaimed in the public record as provided by law.
This Constitution shall take effect on a date fixed by this Article or by the Constitutional Transition Article, which date shall be uniform throughout the United States.
Unless otherwise provided by this Constitution, the effective date shall occur not more than one hundred eighty days after final certification of ratification.
Different provisions may take effect at different times only where this Constitution expressly so provides or where the Constitutional Transition Article lawfully requires staged implementation for the orderly preservation of government, rights, elections, courts, records, finances, and public administration.
Upon the effective date of this Constitution, all laws, treaties, rules, obligations, offices, proceedings, judgments, public records, and governmental acts then in force under the prior constitutional order shall remain in force insofar as they are not inconsistent with this Constitution, until altered, repealed, concluded, or superseded in the manner provided by this Constitution and by law.
No office, right, liability, public debt, or lawful obligation shall be extinguished solely by reason of ratification, except where this Constitution expressly provides otherwise.
The People retain the sovereign right to alter, revise, or replace this Constitution by lawful and peaceful means.
No provision of this Constitution shall be construed to deny to future generations the authority to frame and adopt a successor constitution for the United States.
Amendment of this Constitution and replacement of this Constitution are distinct constitutional acts.
An amendment alters this Constitution while preserving its identity.
A replacement proposes a new constitutional order superseding this Constitution in whole or in fundamental part.
No general replacement shall take effect except in accordance with the higher procedures required for constitutional revision or replacement under this Constitution.
A successor constitution for the United States may be proposed only:
No ordinary statute shall by itself authorize the replacement of this Constitution.
Any proposed successor constitution, including a Constitution Three, shall not take effect unless ratified by:
No successor constitution shall be established by mere legislative enactment, executive decree, judicial decision, or partial regional adoption.
No proposed successor constitution shall be submitted to ratification unless:
Neither this Constitution nor any law made pursuant to it shall impose ratification procedures designed to make peaceful constitutional renewal impossible.
The thresholds for replacement may be made more demanding than those for ordinary amendment, but they shall remain achievable by the deliberate and sustained will of the people acting through lawful democratic means.
Upon final ratification of this Constitution, and upon final ratification of any lawful successor constitution thereafter, the text so ratified, together with the official certifications, judicial determinations, and proclamation of effect, shall be preserved permanently as part of the highest public record of the United States.
The Legislature shall provide by law for the archival preservation, public accessibility, and authenticated publication of every such constitutional act.