"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof...."
The Seventeenth Amendment, a cornerstone of the Populist and Progressive movements, provides for the direct election of U.S. Senators.
Many on the Right -- including Zell Miller and Alan Keyes --, citing States' Rights, are calling for its repeal.
Now, the Republican President of Utah's State Senate thinks he's figured out a way around the Constitution's 17th Amendment. And he's got over two-thirds of Utah's State Senate ready to go along.
(Much more, and many links, inside).
"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof...." The Seventeenth Amendment provides for the direct election of U.S. Senators. Originally,
Article I Section 3 of the United States Constitution provided that each state's senators be chosen by that state's legislature.
The Populist Party platform from 1892 on, called for direct senatorial election; and the Progressive movement made it, along with Prohibition (18th Amendment) and Women's Suffrage (19th), a cornerstone of reform. The 17th was ratified 8 April 1913, when the required 36th of 48 states, Connecticut, approved it. Utah, however, had rejected it 41 days earlier, on 26 February 1913. Although Utah never subsequently ratified it, the 17th Amendment, as part of the Federal Constitution, applies in Utah as in all U.S. States.
But in the name of re-invigorating States' Rights, some on the Right -- and some less easy to label -- have called for the repeal of the 17th Amendment. In 2003 Montana's Senate, after passing it out of committee, indefinitely postponed by floor vote a bill calling on Congress to repeal the 17th. Now, the President of Utah's 29-member State Senate [pdf], with 19 cosponsor, thinks he's figured out a way around the Constitution's 17th Amendment. Debate on the S.B. 156 began yesterday.
Utah's Republicans' plans are simple (as simple as a unitary executive): since the 17th amendment requires direct elections for U.S. Senate, they'll keep that. Utah's citizens will still vote for a choice of candidates for U.S. Senate.
But. But the Utah State Senate will choose each party's candidate for U.S. Senate.
Political parties won't be required to allow their party's state senators to choose the party's candidate. The 19 Republicans (and one Democrat) sponsoring the bill are just offering the parties a choice.
Utah's Republicans, magnanimous in their attempt to eliminate any objections to this plan, will even allow the State Senate's Democrats to choose the Democratic Party candidate, while the Republicans choose their own party's candidate.
Of course, it's been twenty-nine years since Utah elected a Democratic senator. So in practice, it looks like the 17th Amenedmemt will allow Utah's voters to ratify rubber-stamp the choice of their Republican state senators.