Eligible to Be Vice President

                The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:  “… no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”  This provision was necessary to defend and support the eligibility of the President.  It also gives Americans the right to have a replacement if something should happen to the President.

                W. Cleon Skousen explained, “It will be recalled that originally no one ran for Vice President.  All candidates had to qualify for the office of President.  The one who came in second was designated as Vice President.  Under the Twelfth Amendment, however, the Vice President is elected separately.  It was therefore important to specify that his required qualifications as a candidate for Vice President must be identical with those of the President, whose place he might someday be required to occupy.”  (See The Making of America – The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 717.)

Vice President

                The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:  “… 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 numbers 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….”  If no vice presidential candidate has a majority of elector votes, the Senate has the right and responsibility to choose the next Vice President of the United States.

                W. Cleon Skousen explained the numbers:  “Notice that two-thirds of the whole Senate must be in attendance, and a majority of these could make the selection.  This means that sixty-seven Senators could constitute a quorum and as few as thirty-four Senators could choose the Vice President.”  (See The Making of America – The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 716.)

House Votes

                The topic of discussion for the Constitution Monday comes from the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:  “… if no person [obtains a] majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding here 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....”

                If none of the candidates receives a majority of the electoral votes, the right and responsibility to choose the next President of the United States goes to the House of Representatives.

                W. Cleon Skousen stated, “… so long as there are only two political parties, one of the candidates will receive a majority of the electoral votes.  However, if there were several parties, the House of Representatives might select the President most of the time.”  (See The Making of America – The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 716.)

                Charles Fried of The Heritage Foundation explained, “Most presidential elections have not generated Twelfth Amendment controversy.  However, the provisions of the Amendment have surfaced from time to time, most commonly when a third-party candidate threatens to take a substantial percentage of the vote….” (See The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, p. 378.)

Senate President Tallies Votes

                The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:  “… 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….”

                W. Cleon Skousen explained, “This provision gives the president of the Senate the RIGHT to count the ballots, and it gives the Congress – meeting in joint session – the RIGHT to observe the opening of the ballots and the counting of the votes for each candidate.

                “In this modern electronic age, the official counting of the ballots in the presence of the entire House and Senate merely confirms in a tangible way what the country has known ever since the day after the election.  Nevertheless, it is a very impressive ceremony as the president of the Senate officially announces who will be inaugurated two weeks later on January 20.”  (See The Making of America – The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 725.)

                Charles Fried of The Heritage Foundation explained, “The Twelfth Amendment, the last to be proposed by the Founding generation, was proposed for ratification in December 1803 and was ratified in 1804, in time for the presidential election that year.  The previous system had yielded, in the election of 1796, Federalist John Adam’s election as President, while his bitter rival and sometimes-close friend, Republican Thomas Jefferson, was elected Vice President.  In the election of 1800, Republican electors, though they clearly preferred Jefferson, sought to guarantee that Republicans won both offices, and cast seventy-three electoral votes for both Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.  This threw the election into the House of Representatives, where it was only resolved (in Jefferson’s favor) on the thirty-sixth ballot.  The hardening of party lines and concomitant voting by party slates (which the Framers had not contemplated) and some dissatisfaction with the way in which electors were chosen in the states led to proposals for change, including a proposal that electors be chosen in separate electoral districts in each state.  However, the only change successfully accomplished was that of separate voting for President and Vice President.

                “Although it remains theoretically possible for the Vice President to be someone other than the person designated by the President and his party, the Adams-Jefferson scenario under which the top two presidential candidates must together form a partnership in the executive branch is now much more unlikely….”  (See The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, p. 378.)

Presidential Vote

                The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution:  “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….”  This provision gives citizens the right to vote for President and Vice President.

                W. Cleon Skousen explained, “The Twelfth Amendment was designed to correct the deficiencies in the electoral college system.  Article II, section 1 provided that the electors were invited to vote for `two persons,’ without separately designating either of them for President or Vice President.  The idea was that the one who received the most votes would automatically become the President and the second in line would be assigned the office of Vice President.  If none of the candidates had a majority, then Congress would select these officers from among the top five candidates….”  (See The Making of America – The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 714.)

                Charles Fried at The Heritage Foundation explained, “The Twelfth Amendment sets out the procedures for the election of the President and Vice President:  Electors cast one vote for each office in their respective states, and the candidate having the majority of votes cast for a particular office is elected.  If no person has a majority for President, the House of Representatives votes from among the top three candidates, with each state delegation casting one vote.  In the case of a failure of any vice presidential candidate to gain a majority of electoral votes, the Senate chooses between the top two candidates.  The procedure for choosing the President and Vice President is set out in Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2-6, of the Constitution.  This amendment replaces the third clause of that section, which had called for only a single, which had called for only a single set of votes for President and Vice President, so that the vice presidency would go to the presidential runner-up.  In the unamended Constitution, the choice in the case of a non-majority in the Electoral College fell to the House of Representatives, as it does under the amendment, and the runner-up there would be chosen as Vice President.”  (See The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, pp. 377-378.)