Twelfth Amendment (Supreme Court interpretations)
The Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1804, was designed to refine the electoral process for the presidency and vice presidency, establishing separate electoral votes for each office. This change was prompted by the contentious presidential election of 1800, where a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr led to significant concerns about the potential for a prolonged deadlock in the House of Representatives. The Amendment ensures that electors cast distinct votes for a president and vice president, which fosters the likelihood of both offices being held by candidates from the same political party.
Supreme Court interpretations of the Twelfth Amendment have been influential in shaping its application, notably in cases such as McPherson v. Blacker (1892) and Williams v. Rhodes (1968). In McPherson, the Court ruled that states retain the authority to determine how electors are appointed, even in light of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Conversely, Williams addressed the restrictions imposed by Ohio statutes that hindered minor political parties' access to the ballot, ultimately affirming the legislative discretion in selecting electors. Overall, the Twelfth Amendment and its interpretations reflect the evolving dynamics of the American electoral system within a two-party framework.
Twelfth Amendment (Supreme Court interpretations)
Date: 1804
Description: Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that separated the vice presidential and presidential voting in the electoral college, originally formalized in Article II of the Constitution.
Significance: In two Twelfth Amendment cases, the Supreme Court has acted to remove limitations on the state power to appoint electors.
The Twelfth Amendment altered the stipulation in Article II of the U.S. Constitution that each elector cast two votes for president, and the candidate receiving the second highest number of votes become vice president. The Twelfth Amendment created separate electoral college votes for president and vice president to ensure that the two offices are held by members of the same party. According to the Twelfth Amendment, when no majority exists, the House of Representatives chooses the president from the three candidates with the highest number of popular votes.
The Twelfth Amendment resulted from the emergence of the two-party system and the presidential election of 1800 between Republican Thomas Jefferson and Federalist Aaron Burr. Jefferson and Burr received the same number of electoral college votes (73), and the tie turned the election over to the House of Representatives. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-five ballots, the House chose Jefferson as president, but the debate took so long that it aroused fears that there would be no president to take office on inauguration day. This fear led to the quick and overwhelming ratification on July 27, 1804, of the Twelfth Amendment by fourteen of the sixteen states then part of the Union.
Two major Supreme Court cases regarding the Twelfth Amendment are McPherson v. Blacker (1892) and Williams v. Rhodes (1968). In McPherson, the Court was confronted with the argument that state power to appoint electors had been limited by the adoption of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Court removed these limitations by ruling that states have power to appoint and select the mode of appointment of their electors. In Williams, which involved a challenge to a series of Ohio statutes, the Court stated that the statutes made it almost impossible for a minor political party to be placed on the state ballot and to choose electors pledged to particular candidates for the presidency and vice presidency of the United States. The Court’s ruling gave legislatures latitude in prescribing the method of choosing electors.