12th Amendment
Twelfth Amendment
Ratified June 15, 1804
Verbatim
Exact text as ratified.
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 of 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 the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;—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 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.
Plain English
A translation that drops archaic words but keeps the meaning, including the parts courts still argue about.
Presidential electors meet in their states and vote by separate ballots — one for President, one for Vice President. At least one of the two people they vote for must not be from the same state as the elector. The electors sign and certify their ballots, then send them sealed to the President of the Senate in Washington.
The President of the Senate opens the certificates in front of both houses of Congress, and the votes are counted. The candidate with a majority of electoral votes for President becomes President. If no candidate has a majority, the House of Representatives chooses from the top three candidates, with each state delegation having one vote. A majority of states is needed to choose.
The same rules apply for Vice President, except that if no candidate has a majority, the Senate chooses from the top two candidates. A majority of senators is needed to choose. No person who is constitutionally ineligible to be President can be Vice President.
About
The Twelfth Amendment was ratified on June 15, 1804, replacing the original presidential election procedure in Article II, Section 1. The original system had each elector cast two votes for President. The candidate with the most votes became President, and the runner-up became Vice President. This produced the Adams/Jefferson administration of 1796 (a President and Vice President from opposing parties) and the Jefferson/Burr tie of 1800 (which was resolved only after 36 ballots in the House of Representatives). The Twelfth Amendment separated the votes for President and Vice President to fix both problems.
The amendment is the procedural foundation of every presidential election since 1804. It has been modified by the Twentieth Amendment (which changed the timing of when terms begin and end) and supplemented by the Twenty-Third Amendment (which gave Washington, D.C. presidential electors).