the vice president would take over as president in that peculiar occurrence, "as in case of the death or other Constitutional disability of the President". It seemed clear all along that the Democratic–Republican dominance would render this a no-contest and the Democratic–Republicans were just waiting for all their votes to be present, but the Federalists had one last defense. A marathon session of debate from 11:00a.m. to 10:00p.m. was the order of the day on December 2, 1803. Most notably, Uriah Tracy of Connecticut argued in a similar vein as Adams when he invoked the federative principle of the Constitution. Tracy claimed the original procedure was formulated to give the small states a chance to elect the vice president, who would be a check on the president's powers. In essence, the states balanced the power of the people. However, this works only if you make it partisan, as Georgia (for example) was a Democratic–Republican small state. Proposal and ratification The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by the 8th Congress on December 9, 1803, when it was approved by the House of Representatives by vote of 84–42, having been previously passed by the Senate, 22–10, on December 2. The amendment was officially submitted to the states on December 12, 1803, and was ratified by the legislatures of the following states: North Carolina: December 22, 1803 Maryland: December 24, 1803 Kentucky: December 27, 1803 Ohio: December 30, 1803 Pennsylvania: January 5, 1804 Vermont: January 30, 1804 Virginia: February 3, 1804 New York: February 10, 1804 New Jersey: February 22, 1804 Rhode Island: March 12, 1804 South Carolina: May 15, 1804 Georgia: May 19, 1804 New Hampshire: June 15, 1804Having been ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states (13 of 17), the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment was completed and it became a part of the Constitution. It was subsequently ratified by: Tennessee: July 27, 1804 Massachusetts: 1961 The amendment was rejected by Delaware, on January 18, 1804, and by Connecticut, on May 10, 1804. In a September 25, 1804, circular letter to the governors of the states, Secretary of State James Madison declared the amendment ratified by three-fourths of the states. Electoral College under the Twelfth Amendment While the Twelfth Amendment did not change the composition of the Electoral College, it did change the process whereby a president and a vice president are elected. The new electoral process was first