... The Electors shall
meet in their respective
States, and
vote by
Ballot for two
Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an
Inhabitant of the same
State with themselves. And they shall make a
List of all the
Persons voted for, and of the
Number of Votes for each; which
List 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 shall be the
President, if such
Number be a
Majority of the whole
Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such
Majority, and have an
equal Number of Votes, then the
House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by
Ballot one of them for
President; and if no
Person have a
Majority, then from the five highest on the
List the said
House shall in like
Manner chuse the
President. But in chusing 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. In every
Case, after the
Choice of the
President, the
Person having the
greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the
Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal Votes, the
Senate shall chuse from them by
Ballot the
Vice President ...
... The Electors shall
meet in their respective
States, and
vote by
Ballot for two
Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an
Inhabitant of the same
State with themselves. And they shall make a
List of all the
Persons voted for, and of the
Number of Votes for each; which
List 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 shall be the
President, if such
Number be a
Majority of the whole
Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such
Majority, and have an
equal Number of Votes, then the
House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by
Ballot one of them for
President; and if no
Person have a
Majority, then from the five highest on the
List the said
House shall in like
Manner chuse the
President. But in chusing 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. In every
Case, after the
Choice of the
President, the
Person having the
greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the
Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have
equal Votes, the
Senate shall chuse from them by
Ballot the
Vice President ...
... The
Congress, whenever two thirds of both
Houses shall deem it necessary, shall
propose Amendments to this
Constitution, or, on the
Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several
States, shall call a
Convention for proposing
Amendments, which, in either
Case, shall be
valid to all
Intents and
Purposes, as Part of this
Constitution, when
ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several
States, or by
Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of
Ratification may be proposed by the
Congress; Provided that no
Amendment which may be made
prior to the
Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any
Manner affect the first and fourth
Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no
State, without its
Consent, shall be
deprived of its
equal Suffrage in the
Senate. ...