Amending The Constitution: Steps To Change

The process of amending the United States Constitution is outlined in Article V of the Constitution and is a difficult and time-consuming process. Amendments can be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of state legislatures. Once an amendment is proposed, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states to become part of the Constitution. This can be done through the state legislatures or ratifying conventions. The President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process. Since 1789, 33 amendments have been submitted for ratification, with 27 successfully becoming part of the Constitution.

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Amendments proposed by Congress

The authority to amend the US Constitution is derived from Article V of the Constitution. Amendments may be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This is known as the first method for amending the Constitution.

Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution. The original document is forwarded directly to NARA's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication. The OFR adds legislative history notes to the joint resolution and publishes it in slip law format.

The second method requires Congress, "on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states" (34 as of 1959), to ""call a convention for proposing amendments". This method has never been used.

Since 1789, Congress has sent 33 constitutional amendments to the states for ratification. Of these, 27 have been ratified. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791.

Some examples of amendments proposed by Congress include:

• The 1789 Joint Resolution of Congress, which included amendments such as the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the preservation of the right to a trial by jury.
• An amendment abolishing the Senate was proposed by Representative Victor Berger in 1911 due to his belief that it was corrupt and useless to the country.
• The Dueling Ban Amendment, proposed in 1838 after Representative William Graves killed another Representative, Jonathan Cilley, in a duel. This amendment would have prohibited any person involved in a duel from holding federal office.
• The Christian Amendment, first proposed in February 1863, would have added an acknowledgment of the Christian God in the Preamble to the Constitution.

Amendments proposed by constitutional convention

The Constitution of the United States can be amended by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. This is outlined in Article V of the Constitution, which describes the procedure for altering the document.

The convention to propose amendments, also referred to as an Article V Convention, is one of two methods authorized by Article V. The other method is for Congress to propose an amendment with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The convention option has never been used to propose an amendment, with all 33 amendments submitted to the states for ratification originating in Congress. This is despite the fact that more than 230 constitutional conventions have assembled at the state level in the United States.

The convention method was designed to enable state legislatures to "erect barriers against the encroachments of the national authority". However, some have expressed concerns that an Article V convention could become a "runaway convention", exceeding its scope and proposing amendments that would only become part of the Constitution if three-quarters of the states ratified them.

Despite never having been used, some scholars have speculated that states may push Congress to propose an amendment on a particular matter by applying for an Article V convention.

Ratification by state legislatures

The United States Constitution was written to be a durable document, with a difficult and time-consuming amendment process. The Constitution has been amended only 27 times since it was drafted in 1787.

Amendments may be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. This is the only method for proposing amendments that has been used thus far. The President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, and the joint resolution does not require the President's signature or approval.

Once an amendment has been proposed by Congress, it must be ratified by the legislatures of three-quarters of the states (38 out of 50 states) to become part of the Constitution. This is the first method of ratification.

The second method of ratification, which has only been used once in American history for the 1933 ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment, involves ratifying conventions conducted in three-quarters of the states. Congress determines which method of ratification the states must follow.

The Archivist of the United States is responsible for administering the ratification process, although they do not make any substantive determinations as to the validity of state ratification actions. Once the required number of authenticated ratification documents has been received, the Archivist certifies that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large, serving as official notice to Congress and the Nation that the amendment process has been completed.

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Ratification by conventions

The authority to amend the Constitution of the United States is derived from Article V of the Constitution. The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.

The convention method of ratification described in Article V is an alternate route to considering the pros and cons of a particular proposed amendment. The framers of the Constitution wanted a means of potentially bypassing the state legislatures in the ratification process. The convention method of ratification loosely approximates a one-state, one-vote national referendum on a specific proposed federal constitutional amendment, thus allowing the sentiments of registered voters to be somewhat more directly felt on highly sensitive issues.

The theory is that the delegates of the conventions—who presumably would be average citizens—might be less likely to bow to political pressure to accept or reject a given amendment than would be the case with state legislators. However, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that a popular referendum is not a substitute for either the legislature or a ratifying convention, nor can a referendum approve or disapprove of an amendment.

Using the convention method of ratification is more complicated than the ratification method in a state's legislature because it is separate and different from a state legislature. As early as the 1930s, state lawmakers enacted laws to prepare for the possibility of Congress specifying the convention method of ratification. Many laws refer to a one-off event, with an ad-hoc convention convened solely for the purposes of the 21st Amendment. Other laws, however, provided guidelines for ratifying conventions in general.

In Delaware, the governor announces an election of delegates, with the latest date possible being the next general election held at least three months after the amendment has been proposed. They are all elected using at-large statewide block voting, with candidates being listed on the ballot by category of whether they declared themselves for, against, or unpledged to the proposed amendment; write-in votes are allowed. Filing for candidacy requires a $25 fee and a 500-name petition if the candidate declares themselves pledged. The convention meets on the second Tuesday following the election, and a majority of delegates form a quorum. Delegates receive no compensation.

The certification process

Once a proposed amendment has been ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 out of 50), the OFR (Office of the Federal Register) drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is then published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large, serving as official notice to Congress and the Nation that the amendment process has been completed.

The signing of the certification has become a ceremonial function attended by dignitaries, including, in some cases, the President. The Archivist's certification is final and conclusive, and it is not subject to substantive determinations regarding the validity of State ratification actions.

In the United States, a proposed amendment originates as a special joint resolution of Congress, which does not require the President's signature or approval. Instead, the original document is forwarded directly to NARA's OFR for processing and publication. The OFR adds legislative history notes and publishes the joint resolution in slip law format, along with an information package for the States.

The amendment process for the United States Constitution is deliberately difficult and time-consuming. It requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. To date, all 33 amendments submitted to the states for ratification have originated in Congress, and none have been proposed by constitutional convention.

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