How does an Amendment get added to the Constitution? The major steps of each of the two pathways to adding an Amendment are laid out below, but you can find the full details behind the process here.
Path 1:
- Step 1: Two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate propose and vote on a constitutional amendment. This sends the proposed amendment to the states for ratification.
- Step 2: Three-fourths of the states ratify the proposed amendment, either by their legislatures or through special ratifying 'conventions'.
Path 2:
- Step 1: Two-thirds of state legislatures ask Congress to call “a convention for proposing amendments” as stipulated in Article V of the Constitution.
- Step 2: States send delegates to this convention, where they can propose amendments to the Constitution. There can be many amendments proposed during this time.
- Step 3: Three-fourths of the states ratify a given amendment approved by the convention, either by their legislatures or special ratifying conventions.
