The+12th+Amendment

= The 12th Amendment =

Definition: 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.]

Explanation: This connects to Jefferson because his election was the reason the 12th amendment was created. It was created because when Jefferson ran for President he and his running mate tied for President. At the time the law was the person who got the second most votes would become Vice President but since it was equal the House of Representatives had to decide who would become President and who would become Vice President. The House of Representatives ended up choosing Jefferson, but they didn't want to encounter this situation in the future so the 12th amendment was created so that the President and Vice President would be voted for separately.



This image is from [|http://search.creativecommons.org/?q=obama%20and%20biden#]

Connection: I think that the 2000 Presidential election would be a good connection to the 12th amendment as well as Thomas Jefferson. I believe this because both Jefferson's and Bush's election went differently than they normally would. this is because in Jefferson's election the house of representatives and in Bush's election took many days to find out if Bush was actually President because the ballots were unclear.(click [|here] to see the 2000 election night coverage) This can also connect to the 2008 election because President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden we both elected but elected separately. Click [|here] to see President Obama's speech, in Chicago, after winning the presidential election.

Line from Text Book: "To avoid this situation in the future the 12th amendment to the constitution changed how electors voted" I think this an important line from the book because it said what the 12th amendment did. It also shows that the United States government is smart and learns from its mistakes. The government also tries to improve for future generations. (pg.310)

-Julia Bankes 2nd Period
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