17th Amendment of the Constitution
1: 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. 2: 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. 3: 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.
Table of Contents
What Is The Seventeenth Amendment?
The Seventeenth Amendment states that the United States Senate should be made up of two Senators out of each state. Each Senator should have one vote and serve six years after being elected by the people. The candidates should meet all electors’ qualifications that are required by State Legislatures.
If there happen to be any vacancies in the Senate, then there shall be special elections issued by the executive authority, typically the Governor. The State Legislature can also permit the Governor to fill any vacancy before people vote.
Choosing Senators and Senators’ Votes
Under Article I, Section 3, the Legislatures elected two Senators from each state. In the Federal Union, the Senators were in charge of representing the States, and the members of the House represented local voters.
However, there were a significant number of elections that were scandalous. Another issue was political discord in State Legislatures. This led to Progressives deciding to let voters elect Senators in every state. The Seventeenth Amendment upholds the election of Senators by people’s votes.
The Dissatisfaction of Electing Senators
Prior to the Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution, there was a lack of satisfaction with the process of electing Senators. This dissatisfaction ultimately led to the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment. Many people were ready to exercise the clause, and several people were convinced that Senators should be elected just like Representatives were. It had been discovered that there were a lot of faults involved in the previous selection process. There was enough evidence to prove that malpractices were occurring, and the method was no longer efficient.
Faults of Previous Senate Voting
Some of the faults that were linked to legislative selection include vacancies staying open for substantial periods due to deadlocks in the Legislatures. Another issue was corruption. There were groups with special interests and influential people who did not allow democracy to work. They bought the legislative seats. There also were electoral contests that were extended, which led to various consequences such as Legislators neglecting their other duties. However, many States had come up with arrangements that were designed to give voters control over choosing Senators. All of this was before the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified.
Amendments were made to the State laws to give voters the chance to appoint the one candidate they preferred for the Senatorial seat among the party candidates running for office. The nominations, on the other hand, were monitored. All of the nominations that were not officially executed were forwarded to the legislature for further action. The Legislatures were the one in charge of choosing the candidate that would take the seat. They decided that based on the majority’s preference, the Legislatures’ action was primarily based on shared understanding. The Legislative was required not to be biased in determining the winner for the Senatorial seat. This was happening in two States and was later approved by 1912. At least 29 states had adopted this method of voting for Senators before the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified. The Senators were nominated based on popularity.
