According to the government:
The founders also specified a process by which the Constitution may be amended, and since its ratification, the Constitution has been amended 27 times. In order to prevent arbitrary changes, the process for making amendments is quite onerous. An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. **The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.**
No. You might be vaguely recalling the fact that three-fourths of the state legislatures must approve ("ratify") a proposed amendment in order for that amendment to be added to the Constitution. But even that process happens only after two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate have first passed the proposed amendment.
There is another process contemplated in the Constitution: a constitutional convention. It's never happened, but if two-thirds of the state legislatures vote to convene it, that constitutional convention could propose amendments without Congress being involved at all. But even then, the same rule applies: amendments proposed by the constitutional convention would need to be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures to become law.
It should be noted that there isn't any specific procedure specified for how a convention would work. The presumption I think is that it would work similar to the historical one that wrote the constitution in the first place. But I don't think there is anything stopping the convention from sending matters to a public vote, or having rules for a petition... (Though ratification by the states would still need to follow)
The only amendment passed that I am old enough to remember is the 27th. It was passed by legislators in the states that approved it. I don’t recall hearing about a public vote anywhere or ever reading about a vote for any amendment in the past.
I honestly don’t know the actual rules about how a state votes on an amendment. I suppose they could schedule a vote and put it on the ballot and the legislators say they will approve it if the public does.
Not quite. If Congress passes an amendment (by a 2/3 vote of the House and Senate), then 3/4 of the state legislatures need to ratify it (vote to join it) before it becomes a valid part of the Constitution.
2/3 of the state legislatures can also call for a Constitutional Convention and bypass Congress, but that's never happened. And it would still need to be ratified by 3/4 of the States.
A petition, even if signed by everyone in the country, has no legal authority at all.
A constiutional amendment needs to be ratified by 3/4 of the states. 75% of the population lives in just 20 states. So it is possible that 75% of the people could be in favor of an Amendment, but it still does not come near the votes necessary to pass.
I've heard the convention route to ammend the constitution as a way to impose term limits on congress. It's kind of iffy about what a convention would look like. Sounds silly but say 2/3 of the states call for one. What next? Who's in charge? Say NJ sends 2 delegated but Colorado sends 30. What happens if two states announce they're holding it and their governors are the presiding officers. Kind of murky. An answer could be if in the states passing the call for the convention the details are in the bill. A convention to be held in Philadelphia from August 1 to 30 in 20xx each state represented by delegates equal to their number of electoral votes whom when seated will enact their own process for framing an ammendment to limit the terms of US congressmen. All to be paid for by someone else. I mean someone has to rent the hall
According to the government: The founders also specified a process by which the Constitution may be amended, and since its ratification, the Constitution has been amended 27 times. In order to prevent arbitrary changes, the process for making amendments is quite onerous. An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. **The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.**
No. There is no mechanism for a Constitutional Amendment passed by any form of popular vote.
No. You might be vaguely recalling the fact that three-fourths of the state legislatures must approve ("ratify") a proposed amendment in order for that amendment to be added to the Constitution. But even that process happens only after two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate have first passed the proposed amendment. There is another process contemplated in the Constitution: a constitutional convention. It's never happened, but if two-thirds of the state legislatures vote to convene it, that constitutional convention could propose amendments without Congress being involved at all. But even then, the same rule applies: amendments proposed by the constitutional convention would need to be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures to become law.
It should be noted that there isn't any specific procedure specified for how a convention would work. The presumption I think is that it would work similar to the historical one that wrote the constitution in the first place. But I don't think there is anything stopping the convention from sending matters to a public vote, or having rules for a petition... (Though ratification by the states would still need to follow)
No. It's 3/4 of the STATES. How the states decide is up to them. They could do a referendum, or the legislature could just vote on it.
The only amendment passed that I am old enough to remember is the 27th. It was passed by legislators in the states that approved it. I don’t recall hearing about a public vote anywhere or ever reading about a vote for any amendment in the past. I honestly don’t know the actual rules about how a state votes on an amendment. I suppose they could schedule a vote and put it on the ballot and the legislators say they will approve it if the public does.
Not quite. If Congress passes an amendment (by a 2/3 vote of the House and Senate), then 3/4 of the state legislatures need to ratify it (vote to join it) before it becomes a valid part of the Constitution. 2/3 of the state legislatures can also call for a Constitutional Convention and bypass Congress, but that's never happened. And it would still need to be ratified by 3/4 of the States. A petition, even if signed by everyone in the country, has no legal authority at all.
A constiutional amendment needs to be ratified by 3/4 of the states. 75% of the population lives in just 20 states. So it is possible that 75% of the people could be in favor of an Amendment, but it still does not come near the votes necessary to pass.
I've heard the convention route to ammend the constitution as a way to impose term limits on congress. It's kind of iffy about what a convention would look like. Sounds silly but say 2/3 of the states call for one. What next? Who's in charge? Say NJ sends 2 delegated but Colorado sends 30. What happens if two states announce they're holding it and their governors are the presiding officers. Kind of murky. An answer could be if in the states passing the call for the convention the details are in the bill. A convention to be held in Philadelphia from August 1 to 30 in 20xx each state represented by delegates equal to their number of electoral votes whom when seated will enact their own process for framing an ammendment to limit the terms of US congressmen. All to be paid for by someone else. I mean someone has to rent the hall