The proposed Twelfth amendment to the Constitution passed the Senate on 2 Dec. by a vote of 22-10, and the House of Representatives concurred on 9 Dec. by a vote of 84-32. Three days later a joint resolution of Congress called on the president to send copies to the governors of the states. The amendment altered the process for electing the president and vice president, requiring electors to designate their votes specifically for president and vice president (JS description begins Journal of the Senate of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1820-21, 5 vols. description ends , 3:319-20, 322-3; JHR description begins Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1826, 9 vols. description ends , 4:482-4; John Smith to TJ, 12 Dec.).

A State Department memorandum dated 13 Dec. records that the department that day sent TJ’s letter with certified copies of the amendment to the governors of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, and by express to the governor of Kentucky. The letter and amendment were sent to the governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Vermont, and Tennessee on 14 Dec., and duplicates to the governors of Ohio, Tennessee, and Georgia on 21 Dec. (DNA: RG 59, DL).