Amendment 12
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 the persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number votes for each which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 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 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. (X)
What does this mean?
Well, let's take it into parts.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President[.]
This is in terms of members of the Electoral College - they will go to the polling stations of their State and vote for a President and Vice-President.
[O]ne of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves[.]
This could be taken to mean that the person running for President cannot be from the same state as the person running for Vice-President. However if they were from the same state, that wouldn't technically be wrong.
It does mean that if the Presidential Candidate & Vice-Presidential candidate were both from New York, then the Electors in the Electoral College for New York [As shown in this map would be 31 Electoral Votes] would only go towards voting for either a President or Vice President through; they cannot choose for both.
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This article: Can the Vice President and President be from the same State | Punditfact goes through the scenario well - I'd recommend reading it as it does the break down of what would occur.
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An Example: In 2000 the then presidential candidate George Bush & then vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney both lived and voted in Texas. To avoid any controversies with this part in the amendment - referred to as the Inhabitant Clause - Dick Cheney registered to vote in Wyoming, where he previously lived.
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[T]hey shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President[.]
- Let's go on a slight tangent -
Prior to this Amendment - the American People would essentially have 2 votes to give. There was never the specification of one person being voted as President and the other being votes as Vice-President. The general idea was that the person with the most votes would be President and the person in Second place would be Vice-President.
As a result, it was possible for the President to be from a different political party than the Vice-President. This means that there were many conflicting viewpoints in terms of governing.
This occurred in 1796 when John Adams - Member of the Federalist Party- was voted as President and Thomas Jefferson - Member of the Democratic-Republican Party- as Vice President. (They both wanted the Presidency)
SPEEDY TRANSLATION: This would be the equivalent of members of the Electoral College voting for Hillary Clinton & Mike Pence and, depending on who had the most votes, the 1st place winner would be President and the person in second place would be Vice-President.
BACK TO THIS SPECIFIC LINE
It means that it is designated who should be President & Vice-President. As in it is written in fine print who is running for President and Vice-President. Both are separate.
[A]nd they shall make distinct lists of all the persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President[.]
This means that all people running for President and Vice-President will be listed.
[A]nd of the number votes for each which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 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[.]
This details the voting procedure. This means that all the votes done by members of the Electoral College would be taken to the President of the Senate and then - as specified - the Senate and House of Representatives would be present in the room as the votes are counted.
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For better clarification on how votes are currently counted:
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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 [.]
This means that the person with the highest amount of votes will be the President of the United States if there even is a person that has a higher number than their opponent (i.e. if a tie occurred -which is discussed below.)
[A]nd 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.
This means that in the event of a tie with the Electoral College - before I actually finish this sentence, I'd like to specify:
Electoral College: Basically if you have a really high population your state gets more Electoral votes.
Electoral Vote # are decided upon by population size. The minimum for each state is 3. A photo of an Electoral Vote Map is here: U.S. Electoral Vote Map
How does this actually work?
Say the Majority of California voted for a Democrat on Election Day, then that means their Electoral Votes - 55- would automatically go to the Democrat.
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For additional reading on the Electoral College:
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BACK TO COMPLETING MY SENTENCE
This means that in the event of a tie via the Electoral College, then it is up to the House of Representatives to determine from the list - of only the top 3 of the candidates- who will be the next 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[.]
This means that, unlike the Electoral College which is determined based on population, only one vote is given to House of Representatives for their State.
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How many people the House of Representatives is made up of?
How many Representatives per each State?
That is determined by population, however each state is entitled to at least one.
For example - Alaska and Delaware only have 1 Representative in the House of Representatives
California, on the other hand, has 53 Representatives in the House of Representatives.
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SPEEDY TRANSLATION: It doesn't actually matter how many Representatives a State has in the House of Representatives because each state only gets one vote. Those with multiple representatives have to make the decision collectively for their one vote (hence the second half after the semicolon. Quorum means smallest amount necessary to proceed.)
[A]nd a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.
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For historical background:
The first time was mentioned above in 1796 and the second time the House of Representatives chose a President was in 1824.
When none of the presidential candidates received - at the time - 131/261 Electoral Votes the decision was then brought to the House of Representatives.
During this election there were 4 candidates for President.
As specified above - only the top 3 will be considered in the House of Representatives.
The person with the second highest amount for popular vote was actually chosen as President by the House of Representatives.
The President I'm talking about is: John Quincy Adams - 6th President of the United States.
Curious to read in more detail what happened?
HISTORY.COM has your back right here:
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And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right 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[.]
This means that if the House of Representatives cannot make a decision on who the President - of the top 3 - before the next March 4th then the Vice-President will act as President until the House of Representatives can make a decision.
TO CLARIFY:
If Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump tied in the Electoral College and the House of Representatives couldn't make a decision on who should be President before the next March 4th then Biden would have acted as the President till the House made a decision.
[Spoiler Alert - Amendment 20 changed some things]
As noted - The Vice-President would take over as is the case if a President dies in office or other constitutional disability of the President[.] which is something we will be getting to in the 25th Amendment.
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[.]
This means that the person with the highest amount of votes will be the Vice-President of the United States if there even is a person that has a higher number than their opponent.
[A]nd 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[.]
This means that if there isn't a majority, then the Senate looks at the top 2 Vice-Presidential candidates. The total number of Senators is 100 (2 for each State). 2/3 of that is 67. So, there would need to be 67 votes on one of the Vice-Presidential candidates to determine which would be the next Vice President of the United States.
But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
In terms of Presidential Eligibility - that is mentioned in Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 HERE
It is also explained in more detail HERE
To briefly mention the 3 points of Presidential Eligibility:
‣ Must be Born in the United States.
‣ Must be at least 35 years old (or older).
‣ Must be a resident in the United States for a minimum of 14 years.
What this line means is that if the person does not meet those points to become President - specified in Article 2 of the Constitution- then that person also cannot run for Vice-President of the United States.
To Summarize:
‣ The members of the Electoral College vote for a President & Vice President.
‣ It is specified who is running for President & Vice President.
‣ A President & Vice President can be from the same state - however if they as a unit win the nomination, the electoral college vote only goes towards one of them then either the House of Representatives (for President) / The Senate (for Vice President) decide for the other.
‣ The Presidential Candidate with the majority will become President.
‣ If there is no majority - a tie - the decision is left to the House of Representatives to choose a President from the top 3 candidates.
‣ The person chosen as President by the House of Representatives has to then get majority approval from the States.
‣ If a decision is not made by the following 4th of March - the sitting Vice President acts as President (as mentioned above - Amendment 20 changed this).
‣ The Vice President with the majority vote will become Vice President.
‣ If there is no majority vote for a Vice President, then the Senate looks at the top 2 candidates and there must be 67 votes for one to be confirmed as Vice President.
‣ If a person is not eligible to be President, they are automatically not qualified to be Vice President.
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In what ways has President Trump & his Administration done something that pertains to this Amendment:
Nothing at this time.
-If needed this will be updated from time to time.-
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Is there an Amendment you would like to know more of?
to be taken to a list & choose which one you would like to learn more about.
This is a series that is ongoing - Each Wednesday [ #WednesdayAmendment ] there will be an Amendment Explanation paired with what Trump & his administration have done that pertains to the Amendment discussed.
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