than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the house of representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But, in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representatives from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President. "The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same day throughout the United States." No other part of the Constitution has worked in a manner so foreign to the expectation of the framers of the Constitution, as has this one. The intention of the framers of the Constitution was to have the President elected only indirectly by the people; the people were to elect the Presidential electors, men of character and standing in the community, who were then, on their own judgment to elect the President. As a matter of fact, the people from the start took upon themselves the power of choosing their President. By the third election, that of 1796, regular party candidates were in the field and the Presidential electors were reduced to mere figureheads. Since this time these elect• United States Constitution, Article II, Section 1.、 ors have merely registered the dictates of the National Convention of the political party, by which they were nominated. This unbroken custom, by which electors are obliged to vote for the candidates of their party, is the nearest approach in our institutions to anything corresponding to the so-called conventions of the English constitution. One serious defect in the method of electing the President and Vice-President early manifested itself. As each elector voted for two men for the office of the President and as each party had two candidates (one of whom they intended for Vice-President) it was soon seen that the natural result of the electors voting their straight party ticket would be a tie vote for the position of President. This was what actually occurred in 1800 and resulted in the long contest in the House of Representatives between Jefferson and Burr. To remedy this defect the twelfth amendment was submitted to the States in 1803 and adopted in 1804. By this amendment provision was made for separate balloting for President and Vice-President. The twelfth amendment is as follows: "The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot, for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots, the person voted for President and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each; which lists they shall sign and certify and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate, shall in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as Presidents, the House of Representatives, shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation of each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them before the fourth day of March next following, then the VicePresident shall act as President as in the case of death or other Constitutional disability of the President. "The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. "But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President, shall be eligible to that of VicePresident of the United States." in Presidential electors have, in the past, been chosen many different ways, three methods in particular hav ing been common in the earlier days of the Republic; by State Legislatures, by the people voting by districts, and by the people by general vote of the State. Since 1832 they have been uniformly chosen in the last named manner, except that in South Carolina they were chosen by the Legislature until after the Civil War, and in Michigan they were chosen by districts in the election of 1892. The manner of choosing these electors is entirely in the hands of the different States, and is not subject to the revision or control of the general government. Congress, however, may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same throughout the United States. SECTION 50. QUALIFICATIONS, COMPENSATION AND No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of the Constitution is eligible to the office of the President. The second alternative was inserted largely for the purpose of making Alexander Hamilton eligible for this office. What is meant by a natural born citizen is partly defined by the clause in the fourteenth amendment, which provides that, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." The Clause, "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," excludes from the operation of this rule the children born in this country to the ambassadors or other public ministers of foreign countries. Children born abroad of parents who are citizens of the United States are entitled to United States citizenship, if they choose to claim it. A President must also be thirty-five years of age and • United States Constitution, Article II, Section 1, Clause 5. have been fourteen years a resident within the United States. The required qualifications are the same for Vice-President as for the President." The Constitution provides that the President, shall, at stated times, receive for his service, a compensation which shall neither be increased or diminished during the period for which he may have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. This clause has no application to the case where after a President has been re-elected, but before he has entered upon his new term, the salary of the President has been increased to take effect from the commencement of the new term." The following oath of office is prescribed for the President: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'' 10 In the sixth article it is provided that: "The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support the Constitution; but no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." SECTION 51. SUCCESSION TO THE PRESIDENCY. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge • Id. 'Twelfth Amendment, Last Sen tence. • United States Constitution, Article II. Section 1, Clause 7. This was done in 1873. 10 United States Constitution, Arti cle II, Section 2, Clause 8. |