The Senate of the United
States shall be composed of two Senators
from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years;
and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State
shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most
numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the
Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs
of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the
legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to
make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies
by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the
election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as
part of the Constitution.
Proposal and Ratification
The seventeenth amendment to the Constitution of the United
States was proposed to the legislatures of the several States by
the Sixty-second Congress on the 13th of May, 1912, and was
declared, in a proclamation of the Secretary of State, dated the
31st of May, 1913, to have been ratified by the legislatures of
36 of the 48 States. The dates of ratification were:
Massachusetts, May 22, 1912; Arizona, June 3, 1912; Minnesota,
June 10, 1912; New York, January 15, 1913; Kansas, January 17,
1913; Oregon, January 23, 1913; North Carolina, January 25, 1913;
California, January 28, 1913; Michigan, January 28, 1913; Iowa,
January 30, 1913; Montana, January 30, 1913; Idaho, January 31,
1913; West Virginia, February 4, 1913; Colorado, February 5,
1913; Nevada, February 6, 1913; Texas, February 7, 1913;
Washington, February 7, 1913; Wyoming, February 8, 1913;
Arkansas, February 11, 1913; Maine, February 11, 1913; Illinois,
February 13, 1913; North Dakota, February 14, 1913; Wisconsin,
February 18, 1913; Indiana, February 19, 1913; New Hampshire,
February 19, 1913; Vermont, February 19, 1913; South Dakota,
February 19, 1913; Oklahoma, February 24, 1913; Ohio, February
25, 1913; Missouri, March 7, 1913; New Mexico, March 13, 1913;
Nebraska, March 14, 1913; New Jersey, March 17, 1913; Tennessee,
April 1, 1913; Pennsylvania, April 2, 1913; Connecticut, April 8,
1913.
Ratification was completed on April 8, 1913.
The amendment was subsequently ratified by Louisiana, June 11,
1914.
The amendment was rejected by Utah (and not subsequently
ratified) on February 26, 1913.
