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Section 1. The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President end on January 20th at noon, and the terms of Senators and Representatives end on January 3rd at noon as well. This is a significant change because, before this amendment, Presidents and members of Congress all began in March instead of January, so someone who was elected in November would have to wait until March to come to power, which is kind of a waste of time.
Section 2. Congress needs to meet at least once every year, and that meeting needs to be on January 3rd at noon unless they set a different day by law.
Section 3. If someone that was just elected President dies before taking office, the Vice President take their place and becomes President. If a President has not been chosen before the beginning of their term, or if the person elected to be President fails to qualify, the Vice President elected will be President until a qualified President is chosen. In the case where both the President and Vice President elected are not qualified, Congress has the power to decide who will act as President until a qualified President or Vice President is chosen.
Section 4. In the rare case where the House of Representatives must choose the President, Congress can decide what happens if a candidate dies before the House makes its choice. This also applies to the Senate when choosing the Vice President.
Section 5. If this amendment is ratified, sections one and two will take effect on October 15th.
Section 6. For this amendment to take effect, it has to have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by three-fourths of several states within seven years that it was submitted to the states by Congress.
This amendment is pretty long but it is very important because it sets standards for the government to follow, without leaving room for interpretation.