TABLE SUMMARIZING STATE APPLICATIONS FOR A CONVENTION TO PROPOSE AMENDMENTS

TABLE SUMMARIZING STATE APPLICATIONS FOR A CONVENTION TO PROPOSE AMENDMENTS

Article V of the U.S. Constitution: The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight [1808] shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

The following table presented under Rule 1006 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure summarizes states applying for a convention, the first year of application, and total number of applying states. Sources are:

ABA Constitutional Convention Report, August 1973;
A Lawful and Peaceful Revolution: Article V and Congress’ Present Duty to Call a Convention for Proposing Amendments, Judge Bruce M. Van Sickle, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of North Dakota, Hamline Law Review, Volume 14, Fall 1990;
1 Annuals of Congress 248 (J. Gales ed. 1789);
Congressional Record, Volumes 33 (1899) to 135 (1989);

SEQUENCE	STATE	Date of First (not the Last) Application	Total Applications Submitted By State	Running Total of Applications By All States	Total States That Have Applied

01	VA	1789	17	17	1
02	RI	1790	6	23	2
03	TX	1899	17	40	3
04	MN	1901	7	47	4
05	NE	1901	18	65	5
06	NV	1901	18	83	6
07	MI	1901	10	93	7
08	OR	1901	10	103	8
09	MT	1901	10	113	9
10	TN	1901	13	126	10
11	AR	1901	16	142	11
12	CO	1901	7	149	12
13	ID	1901	18	167	13
14	PA	1901	7	174	14
15	KY	1902	6	180	15
16	WI	1903	21	201	16
17	IL	1903	20	221	17
18	UT	1903	12	233	18
19	WA	1903	6	239	19
20	IA	1904	17	256	20
21	MO	1905	14	270	21
22	NY	1906	5	275	22
23	SD	1907	27	302	23
24	DE	1907	10	312	24
25	KS	1907	10	322	25
26	NJ	1907	9	331	26
27	LA	1907	26	357	27
28	IN	1907	14	371	28
29	NC	1907	5	376	29
30	OK	1908	17	393	30
31	ME	1911	4	397	31 ⁽¹⁾
32	OH	1911	5	402	32 ⁽²⁾
33	VT	1912	2	404	33
34	SC	1916	11	415	34⁽³⁾
35	MA	1931	16	431	35
36	CA	1935	4	435	36
37	WY	1939	15	450	37
38	MD	1939	6	456	38
39	NH	1943	9	465	39
40	FL	1943	19	484	40
41	AL	1943	15	499	41
42	CT	1949	5	504	42
43	NM	1952	5	509	43
44	GA	1952	20	529	44
45	AZ	1965	12	541	45
46	MS	1965	16	557	46
47	ND	1967	5	562	47
48	HI	1970	1	563	48
49	WV	1971	2	565	49
50	AK	1982	2	567	50

TOTALS:			567 APPLICATIONS	567 APPLICATIONS	50 STATES

⁽¹⁾ In year 1911, there were 46 states in the Union. Two-thirds of 46 is 30.67. Under the terms of Article V, the two-thirds required threshold was reached with the application of Maine which became the thirty-first state to apply for a convention to propose amendments.

⁽²⁾ In year 1911, Ohio became the thirty-second state to apply for a convention to propose amendments. Two-thirds of 48 is 31.99. This means the two-thirds threshold for 48 states had been met even before two states, New Mexico and Arizona, were admitted to the Union the following year in 1912.

⁽³⁾ In year 1916, the number of applying states reached 34 with the application of South Carolina. This number satisfied the two-thirds requirement for 50 states even though it would be 43 years before Alaska and Hawaii joined the Union. Since year 1916, the number of applying states has continued to increase until, in year 1982 with the application of Alaska, every state in the Union had applied at least once for a convention to propose amendments.

NOTE: All but five applications were submitted after year 1900, and over 60% were submitted after year 1960.

On four occasions, two-thirds of the states submitted amendment applications on the same subject.

Same-Subject Applications (NOTE: there were only 46 states in 1911):

	Apportionment	Balanced Budget	Direct Election Of Senators	Limited Taxation
01	Alabama	Alabama	(Alabama)	Alabama
02	Arizona	Alaska	Arkansas	Arkansas
03	Arkansas	Arizona	Colorado	Colorado
04	Colorado	Arkansas	Delaware	Delaware
05	Delaware	Colorado	(Georgia)	Florida
06	Florida	Delaware	Idaho	Georgia
07	(Georgia)	Florida	Illinois	Idaho
08	Idaho	Georgia	Indiana	Illinois
09	Illinois	Idaho	Iowa	Indiana
10	Indiana	Illinois	Kansas	Iowa
11	Iowa	Indiana	Kentucky	Kansas
12	Kansas	Iowa	Louisiana	Louisiana
13	Kentucky	Kansas	Maine	Maine
14	Louisiana	Louisiana	Michigan	Maryland
15	Maryland	Maryland	Minnesota	Michigan
16	Minnesota	Mississippi	Missouri	Missouri
17	Mississippi	Missouri	Montana	Montana
18	Missouri	Montana	Nebraska	Nevada
19	Montana	Nebraska	Nevada	New Hampshire
20	Nebraska	Nevada	New Jersey	New Mexico
21	Nevada	New Hampshire	New York	New York
22	New Hampshire	New Mexico	North Carolina	North Carolina
23	New Mexico	New York	Oklahoma	Oklahoma
24	New York	North Carolina	Oregon	Pennsylvania
25	North Carolina	North Dakota	Pennsylvania	Rhode Island
26	North Dakota	Oklahoma	Rhode Island	South Carolina
27	Oklahoma	Oregon	(South Carolina)	Texas
28	Rhode Island	Pennsylvania	South Dakota	Utah
29	South Carolina	Rhode Island	Tennessee	Virginia
30	South Dakota	South Carolina	Texas	Washington
31	Tennessee	South Dakota	Utah	Wisconsin
32	Texas	Tennessee	Virginia	Wyoming
33	Utah	Texas	Washington
34	Virginia	Utah	Wisconsin
35	Washington	Virginia
36	Wisconsin	Washington
37	Wyoming	Wisconsin
38		Wyoming

States by Order of Entry into Union:

State	Entered Union
1. Delaware	Dec. 7, 1787
2. Pennsylvania	Dec. 12, 1787
3. New Jersey	Dec. 18, 1787
4. Georgia