son 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 a 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 Presi *Before the 1st Wednesday in January, by act of Congress, 1st March, 1792. + On the 2d Wednesday in February, by the same act. dent 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. Slavery Prohibited-13th Amendment, passed 1865. ART. XIII. SECT. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. SECT. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 14th Amendment. SECT. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. Nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. SECT. II. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numor, counting the whole number of per sons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed; but whenever the right to vote at any election for electors of President and Vice President, or for United States Representatives in Congress, executive and judicial offices, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty one years of age in such State. SEC. III. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; but Congress may by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove such disability. SEC. IV. The validity of the public debt of the United States authorized by law, including debts incurred for the payment of pensions and bounties for service in surpressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned, but neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or re bellion against the United States, or claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave, but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. SEC. V. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, passed at the Fortieth Congress. ARTICLE XV. SEC. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. SEC. II. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. |
