    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 112th Congress]
    [112nd Congress]
    [House Document 111-157]
    [The United States Constitution]
    [Pages 106-107]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 106]]

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                          AMENDMENT XVII.\8\

    Sec. 236. Election of Senators by direct vote.

      The  Senate of
    the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State,
    elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall
    have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications
    requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State
    legislatures.
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      \8\ See article I, section 3 of the Constitution. The 17th
    amendment to the Constitution was proposed to the legislatures of the
    several States by the 62d Congress on May 15, 1912, and was declared, in
    a proclamation by the Secretary of State dated May 31, 1913, to have
    been ratified by the legislatures of 36 of the 48 States. The dates of
    ratification were: Massachusetts, May 22, 1912; Arizona, June 3, 1912;
    Minnesota, June 10, 1912; New York, January 15, 1913; Kansas, January
    17, 1913; Oregon, January 23, 1913; North Carolina, January 25, 1913;
    California, January 28, 1913; Michigan, January 28, 1913; Iowa, January
    30, 1913; Montana, January 30, 1913; Idaho, January 31, 1913; West
    Virginia, February 4, 1913; Colorado, February 5, 1913; Nevada, February
    6, 1913; Texas, February 7, 1913; Washington, February 7, 1913; Wyoming,
    February 8, 1913; Arkansas, February 11, 1913; Maine, February 11, 1913;
    Illinois, February 13, 1913; North Dakota, February 14, 1913; Wisconsin,
    February 18, 1913; Indiana, February 19, 1913; New Hampshire, February
    19, 1913; Vermont, February 19, 1913; South Dakota, February 19, 1913;
    Oklahoma, February 24, 1913; Ohio, February 25, 1913; Missouri, March 7,
    1913; New Mexico, March 13, 1913; Nebraska, March 14, 1913; New Jersey,
    March 17, 1913; Tennessee, April 1, 1913; Pennsylvania, April 2, 1913;
    Connecticut, April 8, 1913. Ratification was completed on April 8, 1913.
    The amendment was subsequently ratified by Louisiana, June 11, 1914;
    Alabama, April 16, 2002. The amendment was rejected by Utah, February
    26, 1913; Delaware, March 18, 1913. Florida, Georgia, Rhode Island, and
    South Carolina did not complete action.
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    [[Page 107]]

    the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature
    may direct.
      When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the
    Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of
    election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any
    State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments
    until

      This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
    term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
    Constitution.

    Sec. 237. Filling vacancies in the Senate.

      Senator  Rebecca
    L. Felton, appointed during the recess of the Senate on October 3, 1922,
    to fill a vacancy, was the first woman to sit in the Senate (VI, 156).
    Senator Walter F. George was elected to fill the vacancy on Novem-
    ber 7, 1922. Mrs. Felton took the oath of office on November 21, 1922,
    and Senator George took the oath November 22, 1922 (VI, 156). Discussion
    as to the term of service of a Senator appointed by a State executive to
    fill a vacancy (VI, 156).

    Sec. 238. Qualifications of electors.

      The  right of an
    elector to vote for a Senator is fundamentally derived from the United
    States Constitution (United States v. Aczel 219 F.2d 917 (1915)) and may
    not be denied in a discriminatory fashion (Chapman v. King, 154 F.2d 460
    (1946), cert. denied, 327 U.S. 800 (1946); Forssenius v. Harman, 235 F.
    Supp. 66 (1964), aff'd., 380 U.S. 529 (1965)).