[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)).