[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 17 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 17

  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
provide a new procedure for appointment of Electors for the election of 
                   the President and Vice President.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 13, 2001

Mr. Engel introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred 
                   to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
provide a new procedure for appointment of Electors for the election of 
                   the President and Vice President.

    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 final passage of this joint 
resolution:

                              ``Article--

    ``Section 1. In an election for President and Vice President, each 
State shall appoint a number of Electors to vote for each candidate for 
President or Vice President that bears the same ratio to the total 
number of Electors of that State as the number of votes received by 
that candidate bears to the total number of votes cast in that State. 
Each State shall make computations for purposes of carrying out this 
section in accordance with such laws as it may adopt, including laws 
providing for the allocation of Electors among more than two candidates 
receiving 5 percent or more of the total number of votes cast in the 
State under such criteria as the State may by law establish, except 
that fractional numbers less than one one-thousandth shall be 
disregarded. The candidate having the greatest number of electoral 
votes for President shall be the President. The candidate having the 
greatest number of electoral votes for Vice President shall be the Vice 
President.
    ``Section 2. If two or more candidates receive an equal number of 
electoral votes for President and such number is greater than the 
number of such votes received by any other candidate, then from the 
candidates who receive such equal number of votes 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.
    ``Section 3. If two or more candidates receive an equal number of 
electoral votes for Vice President and such number is greater than the 
number of such votes received by any other candidate, then from the 
candidates who receive such equal number of votes 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.
    ``Section 4. For purposes of this article other than sections 2 and 
3, the District constituting the seat of Government of the United 
States shall be treated as if it were a State, except that the District 
may not appoint a number of Electors greater than the number of 
Electors appointed by the least populous State.
    ``Section 5. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation.
    ``Section 6. This article shall apply with regard to any election 
for President and Vice President that is held more than one year after 
the date of the ratification of this article.''.
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