Commentary On Elections-Part Fifteen

The U.S. Constitution states that the two U.S. Senators must be elected by the people of that state. It did not read that each U.S. Senator must be elected by all the people in that state. It merely cites that all the people in that state must elect those two U.S. Senators.

Again it stipulates clearly that the eligible voters in that state have the responsibility to choose the two senators. Having the eligible voters in one half of the state elect one member of the U.S. Senate and having the eligible voters in the other half of the state elect the other member of the U.S. Senate complies with the 17th Amendment. The electorate in each state thus elect the two U.S. Senators and that fulfils the constitutional mandate.

The entire electorate in each state has the right to choose the two U.S. Senators but it is not constitutionally guaranteed the right to choose both U.S. Senators. An analogy to this is the entire electorate in each state has the right to choose all the state's Representatives in U.S. Congress but the entire electorate in each state does not choose all the Congressional Representatives in their state. That is what the 17th Amendment really meant in its first sentence.

This is the first sentence of the 17th Amendment. Its meaning is precise. "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote."

Cliff Notes Version: The entire electorate in each state has the right to choose the two U.S. Senators but it is not constitutionally guaranteed the right to choose both U.S. Senators. An analogy to this is the entire electorate in each state has the right to choose all the Representatives in U.S. Congress but the entire electorate does not choose all Congressional Representatives in each state. That is what the 17th Amendment really meant in its first sentence.

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