Amendment A Gets Approved, Slavery Now Abolished In Colorado

DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado voters have approved changing the language in the state constitution so that it no longer allows slavery as a form of punishment.

Amendment A passed, which means Article II, Section 26 of Colorado's constitution that had read…

There "shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."

Now will read …

"There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude."

Voters almost passed the amendment two years ago. But the wording was so unclear that it confused many people about whether they were voting for or against slavery, said Jumoke Emery with Abolish Slavery Colorado.

PHOTO GALLERY: Election Day In Colorado 2018

"I hope that this puts forth the message that our past doesn't have to be our future, that by and large we as Americans are interested in fixing our mistakes and that there's hope for our future," he said last month.

More than 15 other state constitutions allow slavery as punishment for a crime. The U.S. Constitution does, too.

The 13th amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished most forms of slavery but still allowed for the opportunity of servitude as legal punishment. That has yet to change.

ELECTION RESULTS: See The Complete Colorado 2018 General Election Results

ACLU's Nathan Woodliff-Stanley said last month that removing the wording from the Colorado constitution "closes the door on the possibility of future abuses, and it also sends a positive message in a time of great division in our nation."

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. CNN contributed to this report.)