Methods of Amending the US Constitution
Under Article V, there are two ways to propose amendments to the Constitution and two ways to ratify them.
To propose an amendment:
To ratify an amendment:
Some Key Facts about Amending the Constitution:
To propose an amendment:
- Two-thirds of both houses of Congress vote to propose an amendment, or
- Two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments.
To ratify an amendment:
- Three-fourths of the state legislatures approve it, or
- Ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states approve it.
Some Key Facts about Amending the Constitution:
- Only the first method of proposing an amendment has been used.
- The second method of ratification has been used only once, to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment (repealing Prohibition).
- Congress may limit the time within which a proposed amendment must be ratified. The usual limitation has been seven years.
- Thousands of proposals have been made, but only thirty-three have obtained the necessary two-thirds vote in Congress.
- Only twenty-seven amendments have been ratified.
"Government 101: The Constitution." Project Vote Smart - American Government, Elections, Candidates and Voting. Project Vote Smart, n.d. Web. 16 June 2015. <https://votesmart.org/education/constitution#.VYAuHDBViko>.