Proposing an amendment to the Constitution providing that Senators shall be elected by the people of the several States. Sixty-second Congress of the United States of America At the Second Session,īegun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the fourth day of December, one thousand nine hundred and eleven. Over a year later, the House accepted the change, and on April 8, 1913, the resolution became the 17th amendment. Bristow of Kansas provided for the direct election of senators without the "race rider." The Senate adopted the amended joint resolution on a close vote in May 1911. Supporters of the clause claimed that it guaranteed state sovereignty, while opponents saw it as a workaround to override the will of Black Americans who had the right to vote as conferred by the 15th Amendment.Ī substitute amendment by Senator Joseph L. They included, however, a "race rider" meant to bar federal intervention in cases of racial discrimination among voters. This would be done by vesting complete control of Senate elections in state governments. In 19, the House passed proposed amendments for the direct election of senators. Over half of the states adopted the "Oregon system," but the 1912 Senate investigation of bribery and corruption in the election of Illinois Senator William Lorimer indicated that only a constitutional amendment mandating the direct election of senators by a state's citizenry would satisfy public demands for reform. One Progressive response to these concerns was the "Oregon system," which utilized a state primary election to identify the voters' choice for senator while pledging all candidates for the state legislature to honor the primary's result. Progressive reformers dismissed individuals elected by such legislatures as puppets and the Senate as a "millionaires' club" serving powerful private interests. In other cases, special interests or political machines gained control over the state legislature. Late in the 19th century, some state legislatures deadlocked over the election of a senator when different parties controlled different houses - Senate vacancies could last months or years.
Each state legislature would elect two senators to six-year terms. The Constitution, as it was adopted in 1788, made the Senate an assembly where the states would have equal representation.
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