Joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing for the election of President and Vice President.
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Judiciary.
Constitutional Amendment - Abolishes the electoral college system of electing the President and Vice President of the United States, and replaces this system with election by the people of the several States and the District of Columbia. Entitles each State to the number of electoral votes equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which such State may be entitled in Congress. Provides that each State's official custodian of election returns shall make distinct lists of all persons for whom votes were cast for President and the number of votes cast for each, and shall transmit these lists to the President of the Senate so that the votes may be counted. Directs the crediting of each person for whom votes were cast for President with such proportion of the electoral votes of a State as he received of the total vote of the electors therein for President. States that in making the computations, fractional members less than one one-thousandth shall be disregared unless a more detailed calculation would change the result of the election. Provides that the person having the greatest number of electoral votes for President shall be President, and that if two or more persons have an equal and the highest number of such votes, then the one for whom the greatest number of popular votes were cast shall be President. Repeals the provisions of section I, article II, of the Constitution, preceding the fourth paragraph, and the twelfth and twenty-third articles of amendment to the Constitution.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 11, 1973. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this joint resolution could become law.
The record's latest action, on January 11, 1973: Referred to House Committee on Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
What is a joint resolution, exactly?
A joint resolution travels the same road as a bill: both chambers pass it and the President signs it, and it then has the same force as any other law. The label is largely a matter of custom, often used for narrow or time-limited measures.
One exception matters. A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution is not sent to the President at all. It goes to the states, and three quarters of them have to ratify it.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
GLENN DAVIS (R-WI) introduced it on January 11, 1973. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 11, 1973, 19600 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19600 days ago, on January 11, 1973.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers