The Seventeenth Amendment
Electing U.S. Senators
Changed how U.S. Senators are chosen, from selection by state legislatures to election by voters.
Ratified 1913 · 3 minute read
Published by Quasi-Legal Institute · Report an error
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
In plain language
Equal representation
Every state has two Senators regardless of population. Article V protects this: no state can lose its equal vote in the Senate without its own consent.
Why it was passed
The framers chose to have state legislatures select Senators so that states would have a voice in the national government. By the late 1800s, many people saw problems. Legislatures sometimes deadlocked and left Senate seats empty, and some selections were tied to bribery scandals. Delaware, for example, went without a full Senate delegation for years in the early 1900s.
Several states started holding popular votes for Senate seats and instructing legislators to vote for the winner. Pressure built, and Congress proposed the Seventeenth Amendment in 1912. It was ratified in April 1913.
How vacancies work today
States decide how to fill a vacant Senate seat. Many let the governor appoint a replacement until the next election, while others require a special election right away. The text gives the legislature the power to choose between those approaches.
What it did not change
The amendment kept the Senate’s structure: two Senators per state and six-year terms. Only one third of the Senate is up for election at a time, so the body never changes all at once.