Take Action

How Ratification Works

This is a state-level process, not a federal one, thank goodness.

Article the First was already passed by Congress in 1789. It does not go back to Congress. It does not require the President's signature. It does not require any federal action at all.

What it requires is a majority vote in both chambers of 38 state legislatures. That is the only mechanism. A state legislature passes a ratification resolution, a simple yes/no vote, and the state is recorded as having ratified. There are only 28 more to go.

The governor has no role. There is no veto. No state constitutional amendment is required. Hooray!

Who to Contact

Reach out to state legislators aka state senators and state representatives in your own state. Not congresspeople in Washington.

Possibly your state's judiciary committee or constitutional affairs committee, bbut any member can introduce a resolution, and any member can vote on it. Contact them all!

You are not writing to your U.S. Congressman or U.S. Senator. They have nothing to do with this process. Write to the people who serve in your state capitol.

To find your state legislators: most states have a lookup tool at their legislature's official website. Search "[your state] find my legislator."

The States Already Done

Ten states ratified between 1789 and 1792:

New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont

If you live in one of these states, good work (just kidding, your legislature already acted 200+ years before you were born). You can contact legislators in other states, tell your frieds, make pretty signs, and help identify which states are the most winnable targets. If you have good ideas please open an issue or start a discussion on GitHub and add to the Open Research Questions.

What to Say

You don't need a script, the whole premise is very simple:

I am writing to ask you to introduce and support a resolution ratifying the Congressional Apportionment Amendment, the unratified first article of the original Bill of Rights proposed by Congress in 1789, instituting the proper amount of representation for US citizens, as the founding fathers intended and almost every single state at the time agreed on. Today, ratification requires a majority vote in both chambers — no governor's signature, no federal involvement. Ten states have already ratified. We need 28 more. There's a non-zero chance we have been doing this all-wrong!

If you want to include a reference, point them to ratifythe1st.org.

Open Questions

Which states are the most winnable? Is there any systematic work of mapping state legislatures by their likelihood of passing a ratification resolution? Can we look at committee assignments, past constitutional reform votes, partisan composition, and individual legislators who might champion it?

Imagine how cool it would be if the US had the biggest representative body of any democracy in history. We might even be able to call it a democracy again! Or a republic! Or home! USA #1!

If you have knowledge of a specific state legislature, connections to state legislators, or want to help in any other way, open an issue or start a discussion on GitHub. Some Open Research Questions are already listed.

A Note on Framing

This amendment is not partisan, everyone would benefit from smaller districts that are harder to gerrymander, less dependency on large donors, and more accountable representatives. The 27th Amendment ratified in 1992 with support from legislatures controlled by both parties.