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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. J. RES. 17

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide

a new procedure for appointment of Electors for the election of the

President and Vice President.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 13, 2001

Mr. ENGEL introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to

the Committee on the Judiciary

JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United

States to provide a new procedure for appointment of

Electors for the election of the President and Vice President.

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled

3 (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the

4 following article is proposed as an amendment to the Con5 stitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all

6 intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when

7 ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several
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1 States within seven years after the date of final passage

2 of this joint resolution:

3 ‘‘ARTICLE—

4 ‘‘SECTION 1. In an election for President and Vice

5 President, each State shall appoint a number of Electors

6 to vote for each candidate for President or Vice President

7 that bears the same ratio to the total number of Electors

8 of that State as the number of votes received by that can9 didate bears to the total number of votes cast in that

10 State. Each State shall make computations for purposes

11 of carrying out this section in accordance with such laws

12 as it may adopt, including laws providing for the allocation

13 of Electors among more than two candidates receiving 5

14 percent or more of the total number of votes cast in the

15 State under such criteria as the State may by law estab16 lish, except that fractional numbers less than one one17 thousandth shall be disregarded. The candidate having the

18 greatest number of electoral votes for President shall be

19 the President. The candidate having the greatest number

20 of electoral votes for Vice President shall be the Vice

21 President.

22 ‘‘SECTION 2. If two or more candidates receive an

23 equal number of electoral votes for President and such

24 number is greater than the number of such votes received

25 by any other candidate, then from the candidates who re-
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1 ceive such equal number of votes the House of Representa2 tives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.

3 But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken

4 by States, the representation from each State having one

5 vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member

6 or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority

7 of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.

8 ‘‘SECTION 3. If two or more candidates receive an

9 equal number of electoral votes for Vice President and

10 such number is greater than the number of such votes re11 ceived by any other candidate, then from the candidates

12 who receive such equal number of votes the Senate shall

13 choose the Vice President; a quorum for the purpose shall

14 consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and

15 a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a

16 choice.

17 ‘‘SECTION 4. For purposes of this article other than

18 sections 2 and 3, the District constituting the seat of Gov19 ernment of the United States shall be treated as if it were

20 a State, except that the District may not appoint a num21 ber of Electors greater than the number of Electors ap22 pointed by the least populous State.

23 ‘‘SECTION 5. The Congress shall have the power to

24 enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
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1 ‘‘SECTION 6. This article shall apply with regard to

2 any election for President and Vice President that is held

3 more than one year after the date of the ratification of

4 this article.’’.

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