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The Beginning
This was the first step when Congress passed a federal law saying the state legislators would be be electing Senators from now on.This was the first change in the original process for when you are selecting the next senators, which only increases in frequency. -
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Popular selection of the Senate
During this time there was thirty one of the thirty two states that say the states should be required to submit applications for a convention to happen so the constitution can get amend and allow popular selection for everyone. -
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Direct Senate Elections
This is the first time a political party endorses a call for the direct election of senators, whether or not both parties even notice. This was also marked as the first time a political party is enforcing direct election. -
Muckraking Magazine
Muckraking magazine writers were told to investigate the corruption of the government and business calls for progressive reforms. During this time "the treason of the Senate" was published in the magazine for several months. -
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David Graham Phillips
David was the author of the series in the magazine and said that " Senators represent special interests rather than the public interests". This is why it should be left up to the people to decide who will be going into these positions. -
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States deciding who they want
Oregon's law now permits voters to designate who they would like as Senators. They think the legislative should have that responsibility. This decision was made by popular choice. Nebraska is soon to follow Oregon's way soon afterwards. At this time other states are also adopting reforms to permit citizens to vote in the U.S. Senate. -
Bowing to public demand
At this time at least twenty nine states were nominating different senators in either party primaries or the general election. The senators were resistant until the year 1911 because the house was advocating this change that they did not agree upon yet. This made them bow down to the public's demand. -
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Passed by Congress
Congress said you are now able to cast direct votes for U.S. Senators. This was a big event because everyone finally felt like they had a stake in society even more and felt like they were now going to be heard and seen by representatives. People want to know who is higher up than them and would like to know about the person before deciding who they think will best fit. -
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Ratified
The amendment was finally made official and was now in place of the constitution. This means the people now get a say in what matters to them and are able to vote on who they think the best candidate would be. -
Augustus Bacon
On this day Augustus from Georgia was the very first senator to be directly elected under the terms of the amendment, while the next year is when everyone was voted on by popular vote. -
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First Election of senators
During the very first election there were up to 1/3 of the seats open for new members. Everyone who ran made it on. People were surprised by this but it worked out well for it being the first time for this type of election. -
Michigan's Primary challenges the constitutionality of FCPA
A candidate running for Senate from Michigan challenges the Federal Corrupt Practices Act after being convicted of violating federal limits with the amount of money unless in general elections. In article 1 section 4 it says it did not get modified. Due to this the provision gives Congress power to determine everything with the senators election like the time.manner, and place. -
Investigation of Pennsylvania Senate
The U.S. Supreme court holds a special committee on the Senate and is able to investigate the election that has happened if they have a reason to. In the 17th amendment its said that it's a federal right to get to elect senators, and the Senate is authorized to protect these rights, like in this case. So they are able to investigate Pennsylvania's Senate election. -
A voter challenged the state system
A voter in the primary Senate challenged the state system saying small rural districts are treated almost the same as large urban districts. It's said that in the way our system works small rural places have a huge impact on the election outcome while the bigger urban districts don't have as big of an impact. And it was said this violates the fourteenth amendment due to equal protection being violated. -
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Residency requirements
Virginia's legislature says there was suggested to be an alternative payment to poll tax per the election. The supreme court agrees but based its ruling on constitutionally on the 24th amendment rather than the 17th. Qualifications also could not be added as that would violate the seventeenth amendment also making it not fair and equal for all. -
Connecticut Republican Party adopts a new rule
The Connecticut Republican party adopted a new rule saying that its now permitted to be an independent voter to vote in Republican primaries. When this happens you are now required to register with a party before voting in the primary. This was used to limit the number of voters that were going to attend. The state law does not violate the 17th amendment because its setting guidelines and qualifications. -
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Term limit for Senate
The U.S. supreme courts rejected Arkansas constitutional amendment that says a candidate can only run a limited amount of times.There is now two terms for the U.S. senate and three for U.S. representatives. Since the amendment state power over the election was eliminated and senators were to be elected by the people.The qualifications for members are determined by congress and cannot be limited by states.