Direct Election of Senators

[Keith Broaders]

Article V guarantees that no state shall be denied their equal suffrage in the senate without their consent. The seven states that did not ratify the 17th Amendment have not given their consent to surrender their Constitutional right to be equally represented in the senate.

The following states  have a guaranteed Constitutional right t o be represented in the senate and should ignore the 17th Amendment in their state.

• Utah
• Florida
• Georgia
• Mississippi
• Kentucky
• South Carolina
• Virginia

In 1913 the legislature of the state of Delaware opposed the ratification the proposed 17th Amendment.  Nearly 100 years later In 2010 the legislature of Delaware decided to change their vote to the affirmative.

In 1913 there were 36 states that voted in favor of ratification while two states rejected it and 10 states did not for or against its ratification. 

The states have a right to give their consent and they also have the right to withdraw their consent. In the case of the ratification of the 17th Amendment, Delaware voted not to ratify the 17th Amendment in 1913.

Having been passed by Congress, the amendment was sent to the states for ratification and was ratified ultimately by 41 of the 48 states that were elgible to participate in rge ratification process. 

By ratifing the proposed amendment the following 41 states have  given their consent to the 17th Amendmentm vut the following seven states have not ratified it and have not not surrendered their Constitutional right to be repreented in the senate.

States that have ratified the 17th Amendment

1. Massachusetts: May 22, 1912
2. Arizona: June 3, 1912
3. Minnesota: June 10, 1912
4. New York: January 15, 1913
5. Kansas: January 17, 1913
6. Oregon: January 23, 1913
7. North Carolina: January 25, 1913
8. California: January 28, 1913
9. Michigan: January 28, 1913
10. Iowa: January 30, 1913
11. Montana: January 30, 1913
12. Idaho: January 31, 1913
13. West Virginia: February 4, 1913
14. Colorado: February 5, 1913
15. Nevada: February 6, 1913
16. Texas: February 7, 1913
17. Washington: February 7, 1913
18. Wyoming: February 8, 1913
19. Arkansas: February 11, 1913
20. Maine: February 11, 1913
21. Illinois: February 13, 1913
22. North Dakota: February 14, 1913
23. Wisconsin: February 18, 1913
24. Indiana: February 19, 1913
25. New Hampshire: February 19, 1913
26. Vermont: February 19, 1913
27. South Dakota: February 19, 1913
28. Oklahoma: February 24, 1913
29. Ohio: February 25, 1913
30. Missouri: March 7, 1913
31. New Mexico: March 13, 1913
32. Nebraska: March 14, 1913
33. New Jersey: March 17, 1913
34. Tennessee: April 1, 1913
35. Pennsylvania: April 2, 1913
36. Connecticut: April 8, 1913
    With 36 states having ratified the Seventeenth Amendment, it was certified by Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan on May 31, 1913, as part of the Constitution.^[41] The amendment has subsequently been ratified by:
37. Louisiana: June 11, 1914
38. Alabama: April 11, 2002^[42]
39. Delaware: July 1, 2010^[43] (after rejecting the amendment on March 18, 1913)
40. Maryland: April 1, 2012^[44][45][46]
41. Rhode Island: June 20, 2014

Im 1913 Delaware'a State Legislature voted to reject the ratification of the proposed 17th Amendment and in 2010 their state legislature voted to ratify the 17th Amendment, Conress recognized the state's right to change their vote after nearly 100 years after previously rejecting it.

[Keith Broaders]