12th Amendment

Importance & Justification

This amendment was added to the Constitution ultimately to better control who becomes President, and to protect from the electoral college completely manipulating the votes, as well as from giving one state more power than any of the others. If there is one person or incident that is most responsible for the formation and inclusion of this amendment it has to be John Adams a Federalist, and Thomas Jefferson a Democratic-Republican; both of whom were in the White House and the same time.

Though neither of the two actually pushed for anything such as the 12th Amendment, the result of their respective elections as President and Vice-President in 1796 created scrutiny over the method in which a President and Vice-President were elected. The primary goal of this amendment was that it prevent conflict in the White House as it would force the President and Vice-President to be of the same party.

Now, instead of choosing the President and Vice-President only by the two candidates with the most votes, there would be the introduction of Tickets and ballots which distinctly named an electors choice of President and Vice President. More specifically, before the 12th Amendment, electors would cast their votes, giving one vote to the Vice-President, and two to the President of their choice. This mean that there was technically only one position which one could run for as to be President someone just had to get the most votes, but to be Vice-President they would need the most votes over everybody but one person. After the 12th Amendment was passed, one could officially run for Vice-President, and would have to be on a ticket with a President. “With the 12th, Electors are directed to vote for a President and for a Vice President rather than for two choices for President.” (Mount)

Because of this a candidate is able to win the election with only 40% of all the votes as long as there are at least two other candidates, either of which hold no more than 39% of the rest of the votes. What happens is that the two big candidates go out, both run a strong campaign, and end up getting a lot of attention and drawing with each other, while the other guy ends up getting the rest of the votes from anybody who did not vote for the two major candidates, but enough votes that he has more than either of the two others. This also can happen if a party decides to spilt in the middle of a campaign and each run as their own party.

Furthermore, the 12th Amendment eliminated any reason a Vice-President may seek the death of a President as a way to instantly become the President. No longer did the Vice-President assume the Presidential position without they say of others. The 12th Amendment requires that if the President is to die, the Vice-President is to fill in for the President, but not become the President, as well as to be put on an electoral ticket.
In general this amendment really created the position of a Vice-President who has duties and is more than just someone to fill in for the President.

Recent Cases

In 2000, during the Bush-Gore election, 3 Texas residents, Stepehen E Jones, Linda D Lydia, and Caroline Franco, all held the position of Plaintiffs against the Governor of Texas, George W Bush, in order to change the outcome of the November 2000 election. They realized that both Bush, and his running mate Cheney were from Texas and on the same ticket, and that this was unconstitutional, as well as a way to keep President-Elect Bush from Office. "I don't think that these Founding Fathers ... had in mind last-minute shenanigans where someone could start discarding baggage just at the last minute." said Plaintiff lawyer, William Berenson. (Bravin)

The case itself was over having Cheney on the ticket with Bush; as Bush was without a doubt a Texas resident, and Cheney was though not a Resident, still living in Texas even at the time during the early parts of the campaign. What is problematic about this is that Amendment 12 prohibits both the President and Vice-President from coming from the same State.

It seemed that Cheney himself had realized this, as he shortly after the beginning of the campaign as he sold his house in Texas, and changed his drivers license to Wyoming, which is also where he owned a house. Along with owning this house, Wymong was the state where Cheny was born, married, and the state which he as a Member of Congress, represented for six terms. Infact he had moved to Texas only to become the Chief Executive Officer, of Halliburton. On July 21, 2000, Cheney declared that he would be returning to Wyoming. (Orin)

Ultimately, the appeal was taken to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Where the immediate and one lined decision was that All requested relief is DENIED.

Works Cited

Bravin, Jess. “Obscure Texas case offers peek into Miers' mind”. Mail Archive. 9 Oct. 2005. 5 Dec. 2008. <http://www.mail-archive.com>>

Mount, Steve. “Notes on The Amendments”. USConstitution.net. 11 Oct. 2008. 4 Dec. 2008.

Orin, Kerr. “A Closer Look at Jones v. Bush”. The Volokh Conspiracy.8 Oct. 2005. 5 Dec. 2008.

Original Context

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 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 electors will meet in the state the state they belong to, and use a ballot to vote for the President and Vice-President, the President and Vice-President cannot be from the same state; their ballots are to include the name of the President and Vice-President of their choice, each ballot will include a list of all of all the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates as well as the number of votes each candidate received, the electors will then sign and certify these lists, and transmit the lists sealed to the United States government, 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 President of the Senate will, in the presence of both the Senate and the House of representatives, and then open all the lists to count the votes.

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 with the greatest number of votes for President, will be the President, this is a majority rule of the number of votes cast by all the Electors; and if nobody has a majority, then of the 3 candidates with most votes for President, the House of Representatives will immediately choose, by ballot, the President, During the election of a President, votes will be taken from states, each states representation will have one vote; there must be at least two-thirds of all the members present in order to vote on this, they will make their choice based on the majority of all the states. And if the House of Representatives does not choose a President when they are given the right to choose, on March 3rd the next year, the Vice President will act as President, such as in the case that a President dies or violates the constitution.

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

The person with the greatest number of votes for Vice-President, will be the Vice-President, this is a majority rule of the number of votes cast by all the Electors; and if nobody has a majority, then of the 3 candidates with most votes for Vice-President, the House of Representatives will immediately choose, by ballot, the Vice-President, During the election of a Vice-President, votes will be taken from states, each states representation will have one vote; there must be at least two-thirds of all the members present in order to vote on this, they will make their choice based on the majority of all the states. And if the House of Representatives does not choose a Vice-President when they are given the right to choose, on March 3rd the next year, the Vice Vice-President will act as Vice-President, such as in the case that a Vice-President dies or violates the constitution.