Twelfth Amendment: Altered Provisions for Presidential Elections

Altered Provisions for Presidential Elections In order for an amendment to be proposed, it has to have two- thirds of the votes in each house of congress. It then has to be ratified by the majority votes in the legislature. It could also be ratified by getting voted by three-fourths of the states. One of these must occur before it can become part of the constitution. Another way, is if two-thirds of the states ask for a constitutional convention to look over amendments, congress is obligated to to call one. If there are then any changes made, it has to be ratified by three-fourths of the states (Constitutional Amendment Process). So far, this has not happened in the United States. The first one was called in 1787. Since then, another one has not been called.

The twelfth amendment was altered because of the election of 1800. It was then ratified in 1804 (Constitute). It was first altered because of the Alien and Sedition Acts controversy. In 1778, congress was controlled by federalists. They then passed a series of laws that were constructed to control the actions of foreigners in the United States during a time of on-going war. These laws include; The Naturalization Act, The Alien Act, The Alien Enemies Act, and The Sedition Act.

The twelfth amendments makes it so instead of casting two votes for president, each elector has to pick a president along with a Vice President on his or her ballot. This guarantees that the president will be elected with his running mate after the election. This prevents a president to be elected and paired with a Vice President that has completely opposing views, that way they can work together to make a successful term. If the Vice President and president had completely opposing mindsets, this would cause conflict and lack of progress and production of anything, and prevent moving forward through their term. With that in mind, it would make either of their chances of being re-elected slim to none if they were unproductive during their first four years. This amendment was also ratified when Jefferson and Burr tied in votes.

The ratification of the twelfth amendment ensures that this can not happen again. “The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;-The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;-The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.

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 March next following, 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 as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States” (United States Constitution Amendment 12).The twentieth amendment of the United States constitution was ratified on January 23, 1933. The twentieth amendment, known as the “Lame Duck Amendment”, shortened the period of time that lame duck members of congress were allowed to stay in office after an election had been held, anywhere from thirteen to two months.

“The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin” (United States Constitution Amendment 20 article one). The twentieth amendment moved the beginning of of the president's terms from March 4 to noon on January 20. This reduces the time by about six weeks when the president would be serving as a lame duck. This applies not only to the president, but the Vice President too. Amendment twenty article three says, “If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.” This clearly states what would happen in case of a deceased president, and the responsibilities that would follow.“

District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment” (United States Constitution amendment 23). 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 the residents of Washington DC the right to vote for representatives in the electoral college. The District of Columbia was put a representative in the electoral college as if they were also a state of the United States. Although this amendment was passed in June of 1960, it did not come into effect until March 23, 1961.The twenty fifth amendment was brought up following the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. The twenty fifth amendment was proposed by congress and then ratified by the states. The twenty fifth amendment is important because it explained the outcomes of multiple situations regarding the president leaving his position, whether that be from death, incapacitation, resignation or removal. “In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President” (United States Constitution amendment 25). Which the outcome would be if the president left his position, for whatever reason, the Vice President will take over.

Overall, all of the amendments that were ratified were for a reasonable cause. They're probably not the most important amendments in my option, but they are definitely important. Without these amendments, we wouldn't know what to do in case of losing a president, it's also important that we now let the District of College mbira resident vote and have a place in the electoral college (even if I don't agree with the electoral college).