Seventeenth Amendment

American  

noun

1. an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1913, providing for the election of two U.S. senators from each state by popular vote and for a term of six years.

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Example Sentences

Until the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, in 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures, or, in many cases, not chosen, since legislatures frequently deadlocked and left the seats vacant.

From The New Yorker

Under this seventeenth amendment the senators of each state are elected by vote of such persons as are entitled to vote for members of the lower house of the legislature.

From Project Gutenberg

The seventeenth amendment provides that whenever a vacancy occurs in the senate the governor of the state in which the vacancy occurs shall issue a writ of election for the filling of such vacancy, but that the legislature may authorize the governor to fill the vacancy by a temporary appointment, the appointee to hold until a senator may be chosen by popular election.

From Project Gutenberg

If it’s been a while since you’ve taken high school civics, the Seventeenth Amendment, enacted in 1913, provides for direct election of U.S. senators.

From Salon

Prior to April 8, 1913, when the Seventeenth Amendment became a part of the Constitution, through ratification by the requisite votes of three-fourths of the State legislatures, senators were chosen by the State legislatures.

From Project Gutenberg