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The(1) Congress,
whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose
amendments to this Constitution, or, on the
application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call
a convention for proposing amendments, which,
in either case, shall be valid to all intents and
purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of
three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof,
as the one or the other mode of ratification
may be proposed by the Congress;
provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand
eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses
in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its
consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
The People shall have the
power by Direct Initiatives to propose U.S. constitutional amendments to the
States when passed by the Electorate's
double supermajority
vote. Upon certification of a passing vote, the proposed constitutional
amendment shall be as if Congress had deemed it necessary, proposed it, defined
the mode of ratification, and submitted it to the several States for
ratification by their legislatures or by conventions. Ten years and again
twenty years after a U.S. Direct Initiative first appears on nationwide ballot,
the Assembly shall include a Candidate Direct Initiative to repeal the Amendment
when passed by a double majority vote. Should the Electorate choose repeal,
Initiatives previously or concurrently passed shall remain as if they had
originally been enacted by Congress and Congress may then change or overrule
them as regular business of the Congress subject to Presidential approval.
Article V—Text of First Method(2) in which Congress Adopts and the
States Ratify the Amendment:
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, which shall be valid to all intents and
purposes as part of this Constitution, when ratified
by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by
conventions in
three fourths thereof, as the one
or the other mode of ratification may be proposed
by the Congress.
Article V—Text of Second Method in which the States
Propose an Amendment at an Article V Convention and Later Ratify the Amendment:
The Congress, on the
application of the legislatures of two thirds(5) of the several states,
shall(3) call
a convention for proposing amendments, which shall be valid to all intents and
purposes as part of this Constitution, when ratified
by the legislatures of three fourths(5) of the several states, or by
conventions in
three fourths thereof, as the one or the other
mode(4) of ratification may be proposed
by the Congress.
Note: Texts added in
Section 2.5 and
Section 6.1 of this Amendment are shown as
brown underlined characters.
Notes:
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In Article V—Complete Text, the second method is
highlighted for clarity.
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All Amendments to date have been initiated by Congress using the first
method.
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In the second method, the words
"Congress...shall call a convention"
make it clear that Congress
has no option as to whether it will or will not
call a convention in accordance with the Constitution.
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Congress normally has
chosen ratification by the State Legislatures except for Amendment XXI where
it chose conventions. The planned Amendment chooses ratification by State
Legislature, but Congress has the right to change this to ratification by
conventions in accordance with the Constitution.
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There are 50 States. Two-thirds corresponds to 34 States;
three-fourths corresponds to 38 States.
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