And what if a state had an even number of representatives who split evening on their choice? Given that there were 16 states in the Union in , nine delegations had to agree on their choice. Only on the 36th ballot did Bayard agree to vote for Jefferson and to break the deadlock by which time at least two Jeffersonian governors, from Pennsylvania and Virginia, were threatening to call out their state militias and order them to march on the new national capitol in Washington, D.
Jefferson was peacefully inaugurated on March 4, and the all-important precedent was set for peaceful transfer of power. Yet the original electoral college system was exposed as problematic, and there was widespread agreement that something had to be done.
But what? That was rejected in and did not become a serious possibility in the early 19th century nor, of course, has it been adopted since then. Still, it had become clear that political parties had become a feature of American politics and that the electoral college system should be modified to reflect this. How was this accomplished? Never again could presidential candidates and their running mates face the embarrassing kind of tie vote that forced the House to choose between Jefferson and Burr.
The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by the Eighth Congress on December 9, and submitted to the states three days later. There being seventeen states in the Union at that time, thirteen had to ratify it.
Secretary of State James Madison declared that the Amendment had been added to the Constitution on September 25, , at which time fourteen of the seventeen states had ratified it. Delaware, Connecticut, and Massachusetts had rejected it though Massachusetts in fact ratified it in ! The election of and all subsequent elections were carried out under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment.
This splitting of the presidency and vice-presidency did not go uncontested. At least two senators expressed their reservations about the quality of vice presidential candidates.
Is he honest? They will seek a man of moderate talents. In addition to its implicit recognition of the existence of political parties, the Amendment made another important change: The original Constitution provided that the failure of any candidate to achieve a majority would require the House to choose as president one of the five top-ranking candidates, with the person coming in second to serve as vice-president unless there was tie for second place, in which case the Senate would choose between them.
Now, however, the House would choose only the President from the top three choices of the electors; the Senate would now choose the Vice President from the top two choices of the electors for that specific office.
Prior to the election, both presidential candidate George W. Bush and vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney lived in and voted in Texas. To avoid problems with the inhabitant clause, Cheney registered to vote in Wyoming, where he previously lived. The Twelfth Amendment also specifies how the president and vice president are to be selected should neither candidate obtain the votes of a majority of the electors: the House of Representatives selects the new president from the top three candidates.
This is a slight variation from the original provision, which allowed the choice from among the top five candidates. However, the vote within the House is by state, not by representative. This gives equal weight to all states— the smaller, less populated states as well as the larger, more populated ones— and makes it more likely that the ultimate winner may not be the candidate who obtains the majority of the popular vote.
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