[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 56 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. J. RES. 56

  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
  abolish the electoral college and to provide for the direct popular 
   election of the President and Vice President of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            November 1 (legislative day, September 22), 2000

 Mr. Durbin introduced the following joint resolution; which was read 
          twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
  abolish the electoral college and to provide for the direct popular 
   election of the President and Vice President of the United States.

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House 
concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be 
valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when 
ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States 
within seven years after the date of its submission to the States for 
ratification:

                              ``Article--

    ``Section 1. The President and Vice President shall be elected by 
the people of the several States and the district constituting the seat 
of government of the United States.
    ``Section 2. The electors in each State shall have the 
qualifications requisite for electors of Representatives in Congress 
from that State, except that the legislature of any State may prescribe 
less restrictive qualifications with respect to residence and Congress 
may establish uniform residence and age qualifications. Congress shall 
establish qualifications for electors in the district constituting the 
seat of government of the United States.
    ``Section 3. The persons having the greatest number of votes for 
President and Vice President shall be elected, if such number be at 
least 40 per centum of the whole number of votes cast for such offices 
in the general election. If no persons have such number, a runoff 
election shall be held 21 days after the general election. In the 
runoff election, the choice of President and Vice President shall be 
made from the persons who received the two highest numbers of votes for 
each office in the general election.
    ``Section 4. The times, places, and manner of holding such 
elections, and entitlement to inclusion on the ballot for the general 
election, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof; 
but Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations. 
Congress shall prescribe by law the time, place, and manner in which 
the results of such elections shall be ascertained and declared.
    ``Section 5. Each elector shall cast a single vote jointly 
applicable to President and Vice President in any such election. Names 
of candidates shall not be joined unless they shall have consented 
thereto and no candidate shall consent to his or her name's being 
joined with that of more than one other person.
    ``Section 6. Congress may by law provide for the case of the death 
of any candidate for President or Vice President before the day on 
which the President-elect or the Vice President-elect has been chosen; 
and for the case of a tie in any such election.
    ``Section 7. Congress shall have the power to implement and enforce 
this article by appropriate legislation.
    ``Section 8. This article shall take effect one year after the 
twenty-first day of January following ratification.''.
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