Assena, here's the URL and the text:
Last I checked, it was still the law of the land. Please let me know if you change it, so I can update my records.
access.gpo.gov
Amendment [XII.]
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.
***The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by Congress on December
9, 1803, when it passed the House, 13 Annals of Congress 775, 776,
having previously passed the Senate on December 2. Id., 209. It was not
signed by the presiding officers of the House and Senate until December
12. It appears officially in 2 Stat. 306. Ratification was probably
completed on June 15, 1804, when the legislature of the thirteenth State
(New Hampshire) approved the amendment, there being then 17 States in
the Union. The Governor of New Hampshire, however, vetoed this act of
the legislature on June 20, and the act failed to pass again by two-
thirds vote then required by the state constitution. Inasmuch as Article
V of the Federal Constitution specifies that amendments shall become
effective ``when ratified by legislatures of three-fourths of the
several States or by conventions in three-fourths thereof,'' it has been
generally believed that an approval or veto by a governor is without
significance. If the ratification by New Hampshire be deemed
ineffective, then the amendment became operative by Tennessee's
ratification on July 27, 1804. On September 25, 1804, in a circular
letter to the Governors of the several States, Secretary of State
Madison declared the amendment ratified by three-fourths of the States.
The several state legislatures ratified the Twelfth Amendment on
the following dates: North Carolina, December 22, 1803; Maryland,
December 24, 1803; Kentucky, December 27, 1803; Ohio, between December 5
and December 30, 1803; Virginia, between December 20, 1803 and February
3, 1804; Pennsylvania, January 5, 1804; Vermont, January 30, 1804; New
York, February 10, 1804; New Jersey, February 22, 1804; Rhode Island,
between February 27 and March 12, 1804; South Carolina, May 15, 1804;
Georgia, May 19, 1804; New Hampshire, June 15, 1804; and Tennessee, July
27, 1804. The amendment was rejected by Delaware on January 18, 1804,
and by Connecticut at its session begun May 10, 1804. Massachusetts
ratified this amendment in 1961. |
