Topic > Twelfth Amendment: Amended Provisions for Presidential Elections

Modified provisions for presidential elections In order to propose an amendment, each house of congress must obtain two-thirds of the votes. It must then be ratified by a majority of votes in the legislature. It could also be ratified by obtaining the vote of three-quarters of the states. One of these must occur before it can become part of the Constitution. Another way is that if two-thirds of the states ask for a constitutional convention to consider the amendments, congress is obligated to call one. If changes are made, they must be ratified by three-quarters of the states (constitutional amendment process). So far this has not happened in the United States. The first was named in 1787. Since then, another has not been named. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Twelfth Amendment was changed due to the election of 1800. It was then ratified in 1804 (Constitution). It was first edited due to the controversy over the Alien and Sedition Acts. In 1778, Congress was controlled by Federalists. They subsequently passed a series of laws designed to control the actions of foreigners in the United States during a time of ongoing war. These laws include; The Naturalization Act, the Alien Act, the Enemies Alien Act, and the Sedition Act. The Twelfth Amendment makes it so that instead of casting two votes for president, each voter must choose a president along with a vice president on his or her ballot. This guarantees that the president will be elected together with his deputy after the elections. This prevents a president from being elected and paired with a vice president who has completely opposite views, so they can work together for a successful term. If the vice president and the president had completely opposite mindsets, it would cause conflict and a lack of progress and production of anything, preventing them from moving forward in their mandate. With this in mind, their chances of being re-elected would be reduced to zero if they were unproductive during their first four years. This amendment was also ratified when Jefferson and Burr tied the votes. Ratification of the Twelfth Amendment ensures that this cannot happen again. “The Electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for the President and Vice President, one of whom at least one shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them; they will name on their ballots the person voted as President, and on separate ballots the person voted as Vice-President, and they will make separate lists of all the people voted as President and of all the people voted as Vice-President, and of the number of votes of each, which lists shall sign, certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of government of the United States, addressed to the President of the Senate; presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, all certificates will be opened and the votes will be counted; - The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number represents a majority of the whole number of Electors nominated; and if no person shall obtain such majority, then from among the persons having the highest number not exceeding three on the list of those elected as President, the House of Representatives shall immediately, by ballot, choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by the States, the representation of each State having one vote; the quorum for this purpose will be made up of one or more members coming from two thirds of the States and to make a choice it will be necessary tomajority of all states. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of the month of March next succeeding, then the Vice President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. The person having the greatest number of votes for Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such number represents a majority of the votes the whole number of Electors nominated, and if no one obtains a majority, the Senate shall choose from the two highest numbers on the list the Vice President; the quorum for this purpose will be made up of two thirds of the total number of senators and a majority of the total number will be necessary for the choice. But no person constitutionally unfit for the office of President shall be eligible for the office of Vice President of the United States” (Amendment 12 of the United States Constitution). The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on January 23, 1933. The Twentieth Amendment, known as the "Lame Duck Amendment," shortened the length of time members of the lame-duck Congress could remain in office after the holding of elections, from thirteen to two months. “The terms of office of the President and the Vice President shall expire at noon on the 20th of January, and the terms of office of the Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd of January, of the years in which such terms would have expired if this article had been adopted have not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall thereupon begin” (Amendment 20 of the United States Constitution, article one). The Twentieth Amendment moved the start of the president's term from March 4 to noon on January 20. That shaves about six weeks off the time the president would serve as a lame duck. This applies not only to the president, but also to the vice president. Article three of amendment twenty says: “If, at the time fixed for the commencement of the President's term, the President-elect shall be deceased, the Vice President-elect shall become President. If a President has not been selected before the time appointed for the commencement of his term, or if the President-elect has not met the qualifications, then the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President is qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case in which neither a President-elect nor a Vice-President-elect shall qualify, by declaring who shall in that case act as President, or the manner in which he shall be chosen, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President has obtained the qualification." This clearly establishes what would happen in the case of a deceased president and the responsibilities that would follow. President equal to the total number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no case greater than the least populous State; they will be added to those nominated by the States, but will be considered, for the purposes of the election of the President and the Vice President, as electors nominated by a State; and they shall assemble in the District and perform the duties provided by the Twelfth Article of Amendment” (Amendment 23 of the Constitution of the United States). The Twenty-third Amendment was ratified on March 29, 1961. The Twenty-third Amendment then allowed residents of the District of Columbia to vote for presidential candidates for the first time. The Twenty-third Amendment also gives Washington D.C. residents the right to vote for representatives in the Electoral College. The District of Columbia was nominated for representation in the electoral college as if it were also a U.S. state. Although this amendment was passed in June 1960, it did not go into effect until).