Results on Louisiana Amendment 7: Voters reject a confusing change to the state's constitution over slavery and indentured servitude

• Polls closed in the state at 8 p.m. local time, or 9 p.m. EST.
• Louisiana Amendment 7 would ban slavery in the state's constitution, but confusion abounds.

Louisiana voters rejected Amendment 7, which would have prohibited slavery except in the cases of criminal punishment. The measure caused significant confusion among voters.

Ballot measure details

Known as the Remove Involuntary Servitude as Punishment for a Crime from Constitution Measure, Louisiana Amendment 7 would have eliminated the language in the state constitution that establishes involuntary servitude as punishment. It would have, in turn, included language that barred slavery and involuntary servitude except in the case of "lawful administration of criminal justice."

Support and opposition

Louisiana Amendment 7 was first brought to the House as House Bill 298 in March and passed in May with a vote of 96-0. Nine House members were absent from the vote. The bill then moved to the Senate in June and passed 34-0. Four state senators were not present for the vote.

Rep. Edmond Jordan, a Democrat in Baton Rouge, sponsored the measure but opposed it as presented to voters, according to NOLA.com.

"There was just a lot of confusion" with the measure after the legislative process, Jordan told the outlet. He said that the wording of the ballot measure shifted from his original goal and could have even been interpreted as authorizing slavery.

The Council for a Better Louisiana opposed the measure, according to the New Orleans outlet.

"This amendment is an example of why it is so important to get the language right when presenting constitutional amendments to voters," the Council for a Better Louisiana told NOLA.com.