PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LAWS
This information has been compiled and published in pamphlet form by
the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration,
for use by the Executives and Electors of the several States in the performance
of their duties in connection with Presidential Elections.
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THE CONSTITUTION
Article II
Section 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the
United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four
Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term,
be elected, as follows
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may
direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but
no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit
under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the
Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout
the United States.
Twelfth Amendment
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 as 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 President,
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 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. . . . 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 Vice-President to the United States.
Fourteenth Amendment
Section 3. No person shall be . . . elector of President and Vice President
. . . who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or
as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature,
or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution
of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against
the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress
may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Fifteenth Amendment
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account
of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Nineteenth Amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Twentieth Amendment
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at
noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives
at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would
have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their
successors shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year,
and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they
shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the
President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect
shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before
the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect
shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as
President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may
by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice
President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President,
or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person
shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death
of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose
a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them,
and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate
may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved
upon them.
Twenty-Second Amendment
Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President
more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or
acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other
person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President
more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding
the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress,
and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President,
or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes
operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during
the remainder of such term.
Twenty-Third Amendment
Section 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United
States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District
would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least
populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States,
but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President
and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall
meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth
article of amendment.
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any
primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors
for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress,
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason
of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Twenty-Fifth Amendment
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of
his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President,
the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon
confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written
declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary,
such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting
President.
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the
principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as
Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration
that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties
of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of
the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written
declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties
of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal
officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress
may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written
declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties
of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within
forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress,
within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration,
or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress
is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that
the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,
the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President;
otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
Twenty-Sixth Amendment
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen
years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any State on account of age.
UNITED STATES CODE
The following provisions of law governing Presidential Elections are
contained in Chapter 1 of Title 3, United States Code (62 Stat. 672, as
amended):
TITLE 3 THE PRESIDENT
Chapter 1. Presidential Elections and Vacancies
| Skip to First Half of Provisions | Skip to Second Half of Provisions |
Section
1. Time of appointing electors.
2. Failure to make choice on prescribed day.
3. Number of electors.
4. Vacancies in electoral college.
5. Determination of controversy as to appointment of electors.
6. Credentials of electors; transmission to Archivist of the United States
and to Congress; public inspection.
7. Meeting and vote of electors.
8. Manner of voting.
9. Certificates of votes for President and Vice President.
10. Sealing and endorsing certificates.
11. Disposition of certificates.
12. Failure of certificates of electors to reach President of the Senate
or Archivist of the United States; demand on State for certificate.
13. Same; demand on district judge for certificate.
14. Forfeiture for messenger's neglect of duty.
15. Counting electoral votes in Congress.
16. Same; seats for officers and Members of two Houses in joint meeting.
17. Same; limit of debate in each House.
18. Same; parliamentary procedure at joint meeting.
19. Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible
to act.
20. Resignation or refusal of office.
21. Definitions.
Chapter 1. Presidential Elections and Vacancies
Time of appointing electors
| 3 USC Ch. 1, Table of Contents |
§ 1. The electors of President and Vice President shall be appointed,
in each State, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November,
in every fourth year succeeding every election of a President and Vice
President.
Failure to make choice on prescribed day
§ 2. Whenever any State has held an election for the purpose of
choosing electors, and has failed to make a choice on the day prescribed
by law, the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner
as the legislature of such State may direct.
Number of electors
§ 3. The number of electors shall be equal to the number of Senators
and Representatives to which the several States are by law entitled at
the time when the President and Vice President to be chosen come into office;
except, that where no apportionment of Representatives has been made after
any enumeration, at the time of choosing electors, the number of electors
shall be according to the then existing apportionment of Senators and Representatives.
Vacancies in electoral college
§ 4. Each State may, by law, provide for the filling of any vacancies
which may occur in its college of electors when such college meets to give
its electoral vote.
Determination of controversy as to appointment of electors
§ 5. If any State shall have provided, by laws enacted prior to
the day fixed for the appointment of the electors, for its final determination
of any controversy or contest concerning the appointment of all or any
of the electors of such State, by judicial or other methods or procedures,
and such determination shall have been made at least six days before the
time fixed for the meeting of the electors, such determination made pursuant
to such law so existing on said day, and made at least six days prior to
said time of meeting of the electors, shall be conclusive, and shall govern
in the counting of the electoral votes as provided in the Constitution,
and as hereinafter regulated, so far as the ascertainment of the electors
appointed by such State is concerned.
Credentials of electors; transmission to archivist of the united
states and to congress; public inspection
§ 6. It shall be the duty of the executive of each
State, as soon as practicable after the conclusion of the appointment of
the electors in such State by the final ascertainment, under and in pursuance
of the laws of such State providing for such ascertainment, to communicate
by registered mail under the seal of the State to the Archivist of the
United States a certificate of such ascertainment of the electors appointed,
setting forth the names of such electors and the canvass or other ascertainment
under the laws of such State of the number of votes given or cast for each
person for whose appointment any and all votes have been given or cast;
and it shall also thereupon be the duty of the executive of each State
to deliver to the electors of such State, on or before the day on which
they are required by section 7 of this title to meet, six duplicate-originals
of the same certificate under the seal of the State; and if there shall
have been any final determination in a State in the manner provided for
by law of a controversy or contest concerning the appointment of all or
any of the electors of such State, it shall be the duty of the executive
of such State, as soon as practicable after such determination, to communicate
under the seal of the State to the Archivist of the United States a certificate
of such determination in form and manner as the same shall have been made;
and the certificate or certificates so received by the Archivist of the
United States shall be preserved by him for one year and shall be a part
of the public records of his office and shall be open to public inspection;
and the Archivist of the United States at the first meeting of Congress
thereafter shall transmit to the two Houses of Congress copies in full
of each and every such certificate so received at the National Archives
and Records Administration.
Meeting and vote of electors
§ 7. The electors of President and Vice President of each State
shall meet and give their votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday
in December next following their appointment at such place in each State
as the legislature of such State shall direct.
Manner of voting
§ 8. The electors shall vote for President and Vice President,
respectively, in the manner directed by the Constitution.
Certificates of votes for president and vice president
§ 9. The electors shall make and sign six certificates of all the
votes given by them, each of which certificates shall contain two distinct
lists, one of the votes for President and the other of the votes for Vice
President, and shall annex to each of the certificates one of the lists
of the electors which shall have been furnished to them by direction of
the executive of the State.
Sealing and endorsing certificates
§ 10. The electors shall seal up the certificates so made by them,
and certify upon each that the lists of all the votes of such State given
for President, and of all the votes given for Vice President, are contained
therein.
Disposition of certificates
| 3 USC Ch. 1, Table of Contents |
§ 11. The electors shall dispose of the certificates
so made by them and the lists attached thereto in the following manner:
First. They shall forthwith forward by registered mail one of the same
to the President of the Senate at the seat of government.
Second. Two of the same shall be delivered to the secretary of state of
the State, one of which shall be held subject to the order of the President
of the Senate, the other to be preserved by him for one year and shall
be a part of the public records of his office and shall be open to public
inspection.
Third. On the day thereafter they shall forward by registered mail two
of such certificates and lists to the Archivist of the United States at
the seat of government, one of which shall be held subject to the order
of the President of the Senate. The other shall be preserved by the Archivist
of the United States for one year and shall be a part of the public records
of his office and shall be open to public inspection.
Fourth. They shall forthwith cause the other of the certificates and lists
to be delivered to the judge of the district in which the electors shall
have assembled.
Failure of certificates of electors to reach president of the
senate or archivist of the united states; demand on state for certificate
§ 12. When no certificate of vote and list mentioned
in sections 9 and 11 and of this title from any State shall have been received
by the President of the Senate or by the Archivist of the United States
by the fourth Wednesday in December, after the meeting of the electors
shall have been held, the President of the Senate or, if he be absent from
the seat of government, the Archivist of the United States shall request,
by the most expeditious method available, the secretary of state of the
State to send up the certificate and list lodged with him by the electors
of such State; and it shall be his duty upon receipt of such request immediately
to transmit same by registered mail to the President of the Senate at the
seat of government.
Same; demand on district judge for certificate
§ 13. When no certificates of votes from any State
shall have been received at the seat of government on the fourth Wednesday
in December, after the meeting of the electors shall have been held, the
President of the Senate or, if he be absent from the seat of government,
the Archivist of the United States shall send a special messenger to the
district judge in whose custody one certificate of votes from that State
has been lodged, and such judge shall forthwith transmit that list by the
hand of such messenger to the seat of government.
Forfeiture for messenger's neglect of duty
§ 14. Every person who, having been appointed, pursuant to section
13 of this title, to deliver the certificates of the votes of the electors
to the President of the Senate, and having accepted such appointment, shall
neglect to perform the services required from him, shall forfeit the sum
of $1,000.
Counting electoral votes in congress
§ 15. Congress shall be in session on the sixth
day of January succeeding every meeting of the electors. The Senate and
House of Representatives shall meet in the Hall of the House of Representatives
at the hour of 1 o'clock in the afternoon on that day, and the President
of the Senate shall be their presiding officer. Two tellers shall be previously
appointed on the part of the Senate and two on the part of the House of
Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the President
of the Senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates
of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers shall be opened,
presented, and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the States, beginning
with the letter A; and said tellers, having then read the same in the presence
and hearing of the two Houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall
appear from the said certificates; and the votes having been ascertained
and counted according to the rules in this subchapter provided, the result
of the same shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall
thereupon announce the state of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed
a sufficient declaration of the persons, if any, elected President and
Vice President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes,
be entered on the Journals of the two Houses. Upon such reading of any
such certificate or paper, the President of the Senate shall call for objections,
if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly
and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof, and shall be signed
by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives
before the same shall be received. When all objections so made to any vote
or paper from a State shall have been received and read, the Senate shall
thereupon withdraw, and such objections shall be submitted to the Senate
for its decision; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall,
in like manner, submit such objections to the House of Representatives
for its decision; and no electoral vote or votes from any State which shall
have been regularly given by electors whose appointment has been lawfully
certified to according to section 6 of this title from which but one return
has been received shall be rejected, but the two Houses concurrently may
reject the vote or votes when they agree that such vote or votes have not
been so regularly given by electors whose appointment has been so certified.
If more than one return or paper purporting to be a return from a State
shall have been received by the President of the Senate, those votes, and
those only, shall be counted which shall have been regularly given by the
electors who are shown by the determination mentioned in section 5 of this
title to have been appointed, if the determination in said section provided
for shall have been made, or by such successors or substitutes, in case
of a vacancy in the board of electors so ascertained, as have been appointed
to fill such vacancy in the mode provided by the laws of the State; but
in case there shall arise the question which of two or more of such State
authorities determining what electors have been appointed, as mentioned
in section 5 of this title, is the lawful tribunal of such State, the votes
regularly given of those electors, and those only, of such State shall
be counted whose title as electors the two Houses, acting separately, shall
concurrently decide is supported by the decision of such State so authorized
by its law; and in such case of more than one return or paper purporting
to be a return from a State, if there shall have been no such determination
of the question in the State aforesaid, then those votes, and those only,
shall be counted which the two Houses shall concurrently decide were cast
by lawful electors appointed in accordance with the laws of the State,
unless the two Houses, acting separately, shall concurrently decide such
votes not to be the lawful votes of the legally appointed electors of such
State. But if the two Houses shall disagree in respect of the counting
of such votes, then, and in that case, the votes of the electors whose
appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the State, under
the seal thereof, shall be counted. When the two Houses have voted, they
shall immediately again meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce
the decision of the questions submitted. No votes or papers from any other
State shall be acted upon until the objections previously made to the votes
or papers from any State shall have been finally disposed of.
Same; seats for officers and members of two houses in joint
meeting
§ 16. At such joint meeting of the two Houses seats shall be provided
as follows: For the President of the Senate, the Speaker's chair; for the
Speaker, immediately upon his left; the Senators, in the body of the Hall
upon the right of the presiding officer; for the Representatives, in the
body of the Hall not provided for the Senators; for the tellers, Secretary
of the Senate, and Clerk of the House of Representatives, at the Clerk's
desk; for the other officers of the two Houses, in front of the Clerk's
desk and upon each side of the Speaker's platform. Such joint meeting shall
not be dissolved until the count of electoral votes shall be completed
and the result declared; and no recess shall be taken unless a question
shall have arisen in regard to counting any such votes, or otherwise under
this subchapter, in which case it shall be competent for either House,
acting separately, in the manner hereinbefore provided, to direct a recess
of such House not beyond the next calendar day, Sunday excepted, at the
hour of 10 o'clock in the forenoon. But if the counting of the electoral
votes and the declaration of the result shall not have been completed before
the fifth calendar day next after such first meeting of the two Houses,
no further or other recess shall be taken by either House.
Same; limit of debate in each house
§ 17. When the two Houses separate to decide upon an objection
that may have been made to the counting of any electoral vote or votes
from any State, or other question arising in the matter, each Senator and
Representative may speak to such objection or question five minutes, and
not more than once; but after such debate shall have lasted two hours it
shall be the duty of the presiding officer of each House to put the main
question without further debate.
Same; parliamentary procedure at joint meeting
§ 18. While the two Houses shall be in meeting as provided in this
chapter, the President of the Senate shall have power to preserve order;
and no debate shall be allowed and no question shall be put by the presiding
officer except to either House on a motion to withdraw.
Vacancy in offices of both president and vice president; officers
eligible to act
§ 19. (a) (1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from
office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is neither a President
nor Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of
President, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, upon
his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress, act as President.
(2) The same rule shall apply in the case of the death, resignation, removal
from office, or inability of an individual acting as President under this
subsection.
(b) If, at the time when under subsection (a) of this section a Speaker
is to begin the discharge of the powers and duties of the office of President,
there is no Speaker, or the Speaker fails to qualify as Acting President,
then the President pro tempore of the Senate shall, upon his resignation
as President pro tempore and as Senator, act as President.
(c) An individual acting as President under subsection (a) or subsection
(b) of this section shall continue to act until the expiration of the then
current Presidential term, except that
(1) if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is founded
in whole or in part on the failure of both the President-elect and the
Vice-President-elect to qualify, then he shall act only until a President
or Vice President qualifies; and
(2) if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is founded
in whole or in part on the inability of the President or Vice President,
then he shall act only until the removal of the disability of one of such
individuals.
(d) (1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability,
or failure to qualify, there is no President pro tempore to act as President
under subsection (b) of this section, then the officer of the United States
who is highest on the following list, and who is not under disability to
discharge the powers and duties of the office of President shall act as
President: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of
Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture,
Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human
Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation,
Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(2) An individual acting as President under this subsection shall continue
so to do until the expiration of the then current Presidential term, but
not after a qualified and prior-entitled individual is able to act, except
that the removal of the disability of an individual higher on the list
contained in paragraph (1) of this subsection or the ability to qualify
on the part of an individual higher on such list shall not terminate his
service.
(3) The taking of the oath of office by an individual specified in the
list in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be held to constitute his
resignation from the office by virtue of the holding of which he qualifies
to act as President.
(e) Subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section shall apply only to such
officers as are eligible to the office of President under the Constitution.
Subsection (d) of this section shall apply only to officers appointed,
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, prior to the time of
the death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify,
of the President pro tempore, and only to officers not under impeachment
by the House of Representatives at the time the powers and duties of the
office of President devolve upon them.
(f) During the period that any individual acts as President under this
section, his compensation shall be at the rate then provided by law in
the case of the President.
Resignation or refusal of office
§ 20. The only evidence of a refusal to accept, or of a resignation
of the office of President or Vice President, shall be an instrument in
writing, declaring the same, and subscribed by the person refusing to accept
or resigning, as the case may be, and delivered into the office of the
Secretary of State.
Definitions
§ 21. As used in this chapter the term -
(a) "State" includes the District of Columbia.
(b) "executives of each State" includes the Board of Commissioners
* of the District of Columbia.
* The functions of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia
are now performed by the Mayor of the District of Columbia. (Reorganization
Plan No. 3 of 1967, Section 401, 81 Stat. 948: Pub. L. 93-198, Sections
422 and 711, 87 Stat. 790, 818.)
