12th Amendment
By: Krisahn Vakili
What Is the 12th Amendment
The 12th amendment is about choosing the president and the vice president by electoral college. The amendment was proposed to congress on December 9, 1803 and then ratified on June 15, 1804. It made it so the person with more votes became the president and the person with the least votes became the vice president.
Before The 12th Amendment
Before when there was 2 people running for president one would be vice president while the other would be the president. It didn't matter that they were two different parties.
Translation
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.
Translation
That means that the president and the vp are going to be chosen from the electoral college and not have it be the two people with the highest votes.
What is the electoral college?
The electoral college is a way to vote. Each state gets a certain amount of votes and that is determined by the size of the state. A presidential candidate can win if they get to 270 electoral votes.
Story
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson are both running for president. Thomas Jefferson beats John Adams but before their was a 12th amendment than the person who came in second got to be the vice president. So Thomas Jefferson became President and John Adams became vice president.
How Does The 12th Amendment Affect Today?
Before it was the person with the second highest votes that becomes vp even if they are a different political party. Now each presidential candidate has to have a vp running with them and they would be in the came political party.
Bibliography
"Twelfth Amendment." Annenberg Classroom. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2016. http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/page/twelfth-amendment
"U.S. Constitution - Amendment 12 - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net." Amendment 12 - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2016. http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am12.html
“Background of the Twelfth Amendment." Background of the Twelfth Amendment. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2016. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h468.html