What does ratify mean in the constitution?
The term " ratify has two main meanings. First, a state can ratify a federal law as a way of saying that they have accepted it as the law of the state. Second, a state can ratify its own constitution, usually to add a right or change an existing right that was guaranteed in the previous version.
What does ratify mean in the constitution of American Samoa?
In the U.S. Constitution, the term “ ratify means to approve an action or an agreement. This is the process by which an amendment to the U.S. Constitution is made official. It requires the approval of two-thirds of each house of Congress (or a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the states) and then the signature of the president or state governor. However, the Constitution does not say that the president or Congress must be present when the
What does ratify mean in the constitution of Canada?
The term ratify refers to the process by which a new amendment is added to the United States Constitution or the Constitution of Canada. Amendments to either constitution must be ratified by the legislatures of the states or provinces, respectively. Ratification is essentially the official adoption of a new amendment. If the amendment is adopted, it becomes part of the original Constitution.
What does ratify mean in the constitution of the United States?
When the constitution was first ratified in 1788, the term “ratify” meant to approve and thus make legally valid. It is not surprising, then, that when the thirteenth amendment was ratified in 1865, the word “ratify” was changed to “approve” to ensure that it would not apply to the amendment’s original ratification. This change has no effect on the meaning of the word as it was used in the original constitution.
What does ratify mean in US constitution?
The Constitution’s ratification process refers to the process by which the proposed Constitution was accepted by the states. The term is used to differentiate the original process of drafting the Constitution from the process of the Federal government’s subsequent ratification of the Constitution.