    [Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 119th Congress]
    [119th Congress]
    [House Document 118-187]
    [The United States Constitution]
    [Pages 100-103]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                          AMENDMENT XII.\3\

    Sec. 219. Meeting of the electors and transmission and
    count of their votes.

      The  Electors shall meet in their respective states,
    and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at
    least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves;
    they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and
    in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they
    shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of
    all persons voted for as Vice-President, and the number of votes for
    each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to
    the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the
    President of the Senate;--The President of the Senate shall, in presence
    of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates
    and the votes shall then be counted;-- * * *
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    [[Page 101]]

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      \3\ See article II, section 1 of the Constitution. The 12th
    amendment to the Constitution was proposed to the legislatures of the
    several States by the Eighth Congress on December 12, 1803, in lieu of
    the original third paragraph of the first section of the second article,
    and was declared in a proclamation of the Secretary of State, dated the
    25th of September, 1804, to have been ratified by the legislatures of
    three-fourths of the States. The dates of ratification were: North
    Carolina, December 21, 1803; Maryland, December 24, 1803; Kentucky,
    December 27, 1803; Ohio, December 30, 1803; Virginia, December 31, 1803;
    Pennsylvania, January 5, 1804; Vermont, January 30, 1804; New York,
    February 10, 1804; New Jersey, February 22, 1804; Rhode Island, March
    12, 1804; South Carolina, May 15, 1804; Georgia, May 19, 1804; New
    Hampshire, June 15, 1804. Ratification was completed on June 15, 1804.
    The amendment was subsequently ratified by Tennessee, July 27, 1804. The
    amendment was rejected by Delaware, January 18, 1804; Massachusetts,
    February 3, 1804; and by Connecticut at its session begun May 10, 1804.

    Sec. 220. The electoral count.

      The  electoral count occurs in
    a joint session of the two Houses in the Hall of the House (III, 1819)
    at 1 p.m. on the sixth day of January succeeding every meeting of
    electors (3 U.S.C. 15). The Vice President, as President of the Senate
    (or the President pro tempore in the Vice President's absence), presides
    over the joint session (3 U.S.C. 15). The date of the count has been
    changed by law as follows: Monday, January 7, 1957 (P.L. 84-436);
    Monday, January 7, 1985 (P.L. 98-456); Wednesday, January 4, 1989 (P.L.
    100-646); Thursday, January 9, 1997 (P.L. 104-296); Thursday, January 8,
    2009 (P.L. 110-430); Friday, January 4, 2013 (P.L. 112-228).

    [[Page 102]]

    dent and Vice President without establishing standards for those
    recounts. Bush v. Gore (531 U.S. 98 (2000)).

      Sections 15-18 of title 3, United States Code, as comprehensively
    amended in the 117th Congress by the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022
    (Division P, P.L. 117-328), prescribe in detail the procedure for the
    count. Nevertheless, the two Houses traditionally adopt a concurrent
    resolution providing for the meeting in joint session to count the vote,
    for the appointment of tellers, and for the declaration of the state of
    the vote (III, 1961; Deschler, ch. 10, Sec. 2.1). Under the law
    governing the proceedings, the two Houses divide to consider an
    objection to the counting of any electoral vote or ``other question
    arising in the matter'' (3 U.S.C. 15-18; Jan. 6, 1969, pp. 145-47; Jan.
    6, 2001, p. 101; Jan. 6, 2005, pp. 198, 199; Jan. 6, 2017, p. 344; Jan.
    6, 2021, p. _), but only when in writing and signed by ``at least one-
    fifth of the Senators duly chosen and sworn and one-fifth of the Members
    of the House of Representatives duly chosen and sworn'' (3 U.S.C. 15).
    Under a prior form of the statute, the signature of one Senator and one
    Member was required (Jan. 6, 2001, p. 101; Jan. 6, 2005, p. 198; Jan. 6,
    2017, p. 344; Jan. 6, 2021, p. _). Examples of an ``other question
    arising in the matter'' include: (1) an objection for lack of a quorum
    (Jan. 6, 2001, p. 101); (2) a motion that either House withdraw from the
    joint session (Jan. 6, 2001, p. 101); and (3) an appeal from a ruling by
    the presiding officer (Jan. 6, 2001, p. 101). Such questions and
    objections are not debatable in the joint session (3 U.S.C. 18; Jan. 6,
    2001, p. 101; Jan. 6, 2017, p. 345; Jan. 6, 2021, p. _). When the two
    Houses have divided, a motion in the House to lay the objection on the
    table is not in order (Jan. 6, 1969; pp. 169-72), but the Chair may
    declare the House in an emergency recess pursuant to clause 12(b) of
    rule I (Jan. 6, 2021, p. _). A Vice President-elect, as Speaker of the
    House or as a sitting Vice President, has participated in the ceremonies
    (e.g., VI, 446; Jan. 6, 2005, p. 197). See Deschler, ch. 10 for further
    discussion. When addressing a controversy over the election of President
    and Vice President in the State of Florida, the Supreme Court indicated
    its view of a section of the statute in its prior form (3 U.S.C. 5)
    addressing a determination of controversy as to the appointment of
    electors. Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Bd. (531 U.S. 70 (2000)).
    Ultimately, the Supreme Court found that the Florida Supreme Court
    violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment by ordering
    certain counties to conduct manual recounts of the votes for Presi

    [[Page 103]]

    to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the Office of
    President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United
    States.

    Sec. 221. Elections of President and Vice President
    by the House and Senate in certain cases.

      * * * The  person having the greatest
    number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be
    a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person
    have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not
    exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, 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.
    And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President
    whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth
    day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as
    President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional
    disability of the President. The person having the greatest number of
    votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be
    a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person
    have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, 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

    Sec. 222. History of original provision for failure of
    electoral college to choose.

      The  20th amendment to the Constitution has
    clarified some of the provisions of the 12th amendment. In 1801 (III,
    1983), the House of Representatives chose a President under article II,
    section 1, clause 3 (see Sec. 152a, supra), the constitutional provision
    superseded by the 12th amendment.

    Sec. 223. Occasions of election by House and Senate after
    1803.

      In  1825 the House elected a President under the 12th amendment
    (III, 1985); and in 1837 the Senate elected a Vice President (III,
    1941).