[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 17 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. J. RES. 17

  Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President by 
         the popular vote of the citizens of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 9, 2005

 Mr. Engel (for himself, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. McNulty, and Mr. 
  Frank of Massachusetts) 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 for the direct election of the President and Vice President by 
         the popular vote of the citizens 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 for 
ratification:

                              ``Article --

    ``Section 1. The President and Vice President shall be elected 
jointly by the popular vote of the citizens of the United States. A 
citizen of the United States shall be allowed to vote in a State 
without regard to whether the citizen is a resident of that State, so 
long as the citizen is registered to vote in that State.
    ``Section 2. The results of the election for President and Vice 
President in each State shall be certified and transmitted sealed to 
the seat of Government of the United States, directed to the President 
of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of 
the Senate and the House of Representatives, open to all the results 
from each State, and the total votes shall then be counted. The 
candidates having the greatest number of votes for President and Vice 
President shall be elected, so long as such persons have at least forty 
percent of the votes cast. If none of the candidates receive at least 
forty percent of the votes cast, then a second election shall occur 
between the two sets of candidates receiving the highest number of 
votes cast.
    ``Section 3. Congress shall enact legislation to set the date of 
the election of President and Vice President, which shall be a national 
holiday, and to establish mandatory national standards for registering 
to vote in a State for the election of President and Vice President.
    ``Section 4. This article shall apply with respect to any election 
for President and Vice President held after the expiration of the 1-
year period which begins on the date of the ratification of this 
article.
    ``Section 5. For purposes of this article, the term `State' 
includes the several States, the District of Columbia, and any other 
Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.''.
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