Indiana voters face a rare constitutional amendment question on their ballots this year.
The question asks if the state superintendent of public instruction should be removed from the list of successors to the governor in the state constitution.
The Indiana Constitution includes the state superintendent of public instruction in the line of successors to the governor. Under extreme circumstances, the list would be used to find a temporary replacement for the governor if neither the governor nor the lieutenant governor could fill the role.
The state superintendent of public instruction is at the end of the list, preceded by the speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, president pro tempore of the Indiana Senate, Indiana treasurer, state auditor and secretary of state.
The question is on the ballot because the exact title and position of “state superintendent of public instruction” no longer exists.
The state superintendent of public instruction was changed from an elected position to an appointed position and renamed secretary of education in 2021.
According to lawmakers, this change was made to foster a more consistent state education policy.
Lawmakers originally voted for the position to change from elected to appointed in 2017 and Governor Eric Holcomb signed it into law in 2019 after McCormick announced she would not run for another term.
The last elected state superintendent of public instruction was Jennifer McCormick, Indiana’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate. Indiana’s first and current appointed secretary of education is Katie Jenner, whose term began Jan. 11, 2021, and will end Jan. 13, 2025.
Republican Indiana State Representative J.D. Prescott, author of the resolution, told The Indiana Citizen the amendment will keep the line of gubernatorial succession fair, disallowing an appointed official from being in the governor’s line of succession.
If voters approve this amendment, the outdated language will be removed from the Indiana Constitution, also removing the newly named secretary of education position from the gubernatorial line of succession since it has taken the place of the state superintendent of public instruction position.
To amend the state constitution, an amendment must be passed in two separate and consecutive Indiana General Assemblies before it is given to citizens for approval in the next general election. The Indiana General Assembly approved this amendment during the 2022 and 2023 regular sessions.
The resolution passed in 2023 without any opposition from lawmakers. The next and final step in ratifying the amendment is for Hoosiers to approve it in the general election. If approved, the line of gubernatorial succession will be limited to five positions rather than six.
