Amendment Twelve and It's Meaning

Amendment Twelve

"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 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."

As I am positive no one would want to read that, I am going to sum up the twelfth amendment. All in all, there were many problems back in the day regarding the presidential election of the president and vice president. There would be miscommunication (or not enough) and the Electoral College would end up voting the wrong numbers which in turn would have a president and vice president of opposing parties. Another problem arose as the two opposing parties would tie and it would then go to the House for them to decide which could be rigged. So after these complications the twelfth amendment was created so that instead of the electors choosing two options for president, they will choose one president and one vice president.

This is a video that furthers my explanation on the 12th amendment and more of what the electoral college does and how it has changed since the beginning. I like it because it really cleared out this amendment for me and should be able to do the same for you! It is very clear with information and did not leave me confused.

I chose this video (even though it does not mention the 12th amendment) because it further explains the electoral college which is useful in fully understanding the 12th amendment along with how the votes from each state truly affect the outcome of presidential elections. I enjoyed this video and definitely left with a better understanding of the twelfth amendment and electoral college and how they work/go hand in hand.