Constitution of the United States/Twelfth Amend.

Constitutional Law Treatise Table of Contents

Constitutional Law Outline

Introduction

The Preamble

Article I Legislative Branch

Art. I, Section 1 Legislative Vesting Clause

Art. I, Section 2 House of Representatives

Art. I, Section 3 Senate

Art. I, Section 4 Congress

Art. I, Section 5 Proceedings

Art. I, Section 6 Rights and Disabilities

Art. I, Section 7 Legislation

Art. I, Section 8 Enumerated Powers

Art. I, Section 9 Powers Denied Congress

Art. I, Section 10 Powers Denied States

Article II Executive Branch

Art. II, Section 1 Function and Selection

Art. II, Section 2 Powers

Art. II, Section 3 Duties

Art. II, Section 4 Impeachment

Article III Judicial Branch

Art. III, Section 1 Vesting Clause

Art. III, Section 2 Justiciability

Art. III, Section 3 Treason

Article IV Relationships Between the States

Art. IV, Section 1 Full Faith and Credit Clause

Art. IV, Section 2 Interstate Comity

Art. IV, Section 3 New States and Federal Property

Art. IV, Section 4 Republican Form of Government

Article V Amending the Constitution

Article VI Supreme Law

Article VII Ratification

First Amendment: Fundamental Freedoms

Religion

Establishment Clause

Free Exercise Clause

Free Speech Clause

Freedom of Association

Second Amendment: Right to Bear Arms

Third Amendment: Quartering Soldiers

Fourth Amendment: Searches and Seizures

Fifth Amendment: Rights of Persons

Sixth Amendment: Rights in Criminal Prosecutions

Seventh Amendment: Civil Trial Rights

Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Ninth Amendment: Unenumerated Rights

Tenth Amendment: Rights Reserved to the States and the People

Eleventh Amendment: Suits Against States

Twelfth Amendment: Election of President

Thirteenth Amendment: Abolition of Slavery

Thirteenth Amend., Section 1 Prohibition on Slavery and Involuntary Servitude

Thirteenth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement

Fourteenth Amendment: Equal Protection and Other Rights

Fourteenth Amend., Section 1 Rights

Fourteenth Amend., Section 2 Apportionment of Representation

Fourteenth Amend., Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office

Fourteenth Amend., Section 4 Public Debt

Fourteenth Amend., Section 5 Enforcement

Fifteenth Amendment: Right of Citizens to Vote

Fifteenth Amend., Section 1 Right to Vote

Fifteenth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement

Sixteenth Amendment: Income Tax

Seventeenth Amendment: Popular Election of Senators

Eighteenth Amendment: Prohibition of Liquor

Eighteenth Amend., Section 1 Prohibition

Eighteenth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement of Prohibition

Eighteenth Amend., Section 3 Ratification Deadline

Nineteenth Amendment: Women's Suffrage

Twentieth Amendment: Presidential Term and Succession

Twentieth Amend., Section 1 Terms

Twentieth Amend., Section 2 Meetings of Congress

Twentieth Amend., Section 3 Succession

Twentieth Amend., Section 4 Congress and Presidential Succession

Twentieth Amend., Section 5 Effective Date

Twentieth Amend., Section 6 Ratification

Twenty-First Amendment: Repeal of Prohibition

Twenty-First Amend., Section 1 Repeal of Eighteenth Amendment

Twenty-First Amend., Section 2 Importation, Transportation, and Sale of Liquor

Twenty-First Amend., Section 3 Ratification Deadline

Twenty-Second Amendment: Presidential Term Limits

Twenty-Second Amend., Section 1 Limit

Twenty-Second Amend., Section 2 Ratification Deadline

Twenty-Third Amendment: District of Columbia Electors

Twenty-Third Amend., Section 1 Electors

Twenty-Third Amend., Section 2 Enforcement

Twenty-Fourth Amendment: Abolition of Poll Tax

Twenty-Fourth Amend., Section 1 Poll Tax

Twenty-Fourth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement

Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Presidential Vacancy

Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 1 Presidential Vacancy

Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 2 Vice President Vacancy

Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 3 Declaration by President

Twenty-Fifth Amend., Section 4 Declaration by Vice President and Others

Twenty-Sixth Amendment: Reduction of Voting Age

Twenty-Sixth Amend., Section 1 Eighteen Years of Age

Twenty-Sixth Amend., Section 2 Enforcement

Twenty-Seventh Amendment: Congressional Compensation

Twelfth Amendment Election of President

Overview[edit | edit source]

Ratified in 1804, the Twelfth Amendment superseded Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution. Under Article II as originally ratified, the Electoral College did not vote separately for President and Vice President. Instead, each elector voted for two candidates for President. If one candidate received votes from a majority of the electors, he became President, while the candidate with the second-highest number of votes became Vice President.^[1] However, if two candidates received votes from a majority of electors, or if no candidate received a majority, the House of Representatives was to choose the President. Problems arose under the original system in the election of 1800, when Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received the same number of votes in the Electoral College, sending the selection of a President to the House of Representatives, despite the fact that the electors had intended Jefferson to be President and Burr to be Vice President.^[2]

The Twelfth Amendment was designed to avoid a repetition of the events of 1800 by having the electors vote separately for President and Vice President, with each elector casting one vote for each office. The Constitution's original system at times could result, as it did in the election of 1796, in the selection of a President and Vice President with different political alignments, while the Twelfth Amendment simplified the process for selecting a President and Vice President from the same political party. The Supreme Court has thus stated that the Amendment "both acknowledg[ed] and facilitat[ed] the Electoral College's emergence as a mechanism not for deliberation but for party-line voting."^[3]

Since the Twelfth Amendment was ratified, Congress and the states have made other changes to presidential elections. Following the disputed election of 1876, Congress enacted a statute providing that if a state's vote is not certified by the governor under seal, it shall not be counted unless both Houses of Congress concur.^[4] In addition, in 1933, the Twentieth Amendment superseded some provisions of the Twelfth Amendment.^[5]

Twelfth Amendment Generally[edit | edit source]

The Supreme Court has had few occasions to interpret the Twelfth Amendment. In 1976, in Buckley v. Valeo, the Court upheld in part and struck down in part the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.^[6] With respect to the Twelfth Amendment, the Court held that the Amendment did not authorize Congress to appoint members of the Federal Election Commission without following the requirements of the Appointments Clause.^[7]

The Court has twice considered whether the Twelfth Amendment limits measures intended to ensure that electors vote for their parties' nominees. In the 1952 case Ray v. Blair, the Court held that the Amendment did not bar a state political party from requiring candidates for presidential elector to pledge to support the national party's nominees for President and Vice President.^[8] Similarly, in the 2020 case Chiafalo v. Washington, the Court held that the Amendment does not bar a state from penalizing an elector who breaks such a pledge and votes for someone other than the presidential candidate who won the state's popular vote.^[9]