Jump to content

Talk:Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Good articleNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution has been listed as one of the Social sciences and society good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
May 29, 2008Good article nomineeNot listed
December 18, 2019Good article nomineeListed
On this day...Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on August 18, 2009, August 18, 2012, August 18, 2015, August 18, 2018, August 18, 2021, and August 18, 2023.
Current status: Good article

It went into effect on 8/26 NOT 8/18

[edit]

Fix it! Amendments don't go into effect until they are certified as part of the Constitution. It's not automatic upon the requisite number of ratifications. 192.42.55.22 (talk) 03:56, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please review Article Five of the United States Constitution#Ratification of amendments. You are incorrect. cheers. anastrophe, an editor he is. 04:19, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
You can't cite Wikipedia for proof of something claimed on Wikipedia. That paragraph is incorrect. The Archivist of the United States must formally certify the amendment as part of the Constitution.
In this case, the amendment was certified on August 26, 1920. Before that, the amendment was not valid. Fix the article or else you will be promoting misinformation. 192.42.55.22 (talk) 06:31, 20 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
"You can't cite Wikipedia for proof of something claimed on Wikipedia" - certainly you can, on the talk page, while discussing article improvement. That section of that WP article is clearly cited to Dillon v Gloss, you're welcome to read it yourself. An amendment comes into effect once the ratification process is complete, not after it has been 'certified' by the archivist. Here also is the National Archives own statement on the matter,[1] "A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States)." The archivist can issue a proclamation 'certifying' the amendment's addition to the constitution - for the purposes of formal publication - but it becomes part of the Constitution once states have ratified it (within whatever conditions congress posed when proposing it).
You may also find this of interest.[2] Only one amendment to the Constitution in United States history has ever been "certified" by the nation's Archivist. By that measure, and your claim, only the 27th amendment to the constitution is valid. I don't think that's a hill worth dying on. cheers. anastrophe, an editor he is. 05:56, 22 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Here's a quote from the latter archives article that should put the matter to rest: "Some members of Congress expressed concern about the legality of an amendment that had been proposed over 200 years ago and thought the Archivist should seek congressional approval before signing. Wilson’s response was that it was unnecessary because the votes by three-fourths of the states—not his signature—added the amendment to the Constitution." That's about as definitive as it gets. cheers. anastrophe, an editor he is. 06:05, 22 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]