The Constitution of the Western States of America

Foreword:
The election of a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, narcissistic fascist to the Presidency of the United States of America despite the overwhelming loss of the popular vote to his opponent must force us all to reconsider the benefits the western states receive from their current union. The vote of an American citizen in California is worth far less than that of an American citizen in Kansas or Alabama. This devaluation of our franchise is anathema to a functioning democracy and must be corrected. If it is not, it is not only the right but the duty of we the disenfranchised to demand our independence. What follows is a simple thought exercise, a portrait of what the government of an independent west coast might look like. A nation which would be a world leader in technology and culture. A nation whose GDP would rival that of the world’s great powers. A nation whose progressive tendencies would no longer be stymied by its less progressive countrymen.
You may note that many of these passages are lifted directly from our current constitution. This is deliberate. The original framers of the U.S Constitution were brilliant men. We need only slightly tweak their original document to create a democracy worthy of the twenty-first century. It is my hope they and you will forgive me for my hubris and take this document for what it is: A thoughtful examination of our potential options as we are forced to consider the question “Where do we go from here?”
-G. R. Linden

Preamble
We the peoples of California, Oregon, and Washington; feeling disenfranchised by our current electoral system and acknowledging the continued divergence of our core values from that of our American brethren, do hereby announce our intention to secede from the United States of America and form our own democratic union. A union based upon the simple precept that all of us born on this earth are entitled to the freedoms enumerated forthwith and the understanding that we have a sacred responsibility to our fellow human beings to form a government that acknowledges and protects those rights.

Article I
A Statement of Enumerated Rights and Duties

1. Any persons born in the territories governed by this document, as well as any persons residing in a territory at the time of this documents ratification by that territory, peoples who have undergone a prescribed naturalization process in those territories, or any child who is in possession of at least one parent who belongs to one of those groups previously described shall constitute a citizen of this republic.

2. The government of this republic shall pass no law abridging the freedoms of its citizens based on race, sex, gender identification, religious affiliation, political ideology, or sexual orientation.

3. The legislature shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

4. Recognizing that the key to a successful democracy is an educated electorate and that all people have the right to better themselves through continued learning, this government will provide free access to education for all its citizens and shall build and maintain the requisite facilities and faculties to ensure its citizenry is among the most educated in the world.

5. Understanding that a citizenry has a responsibility to look after its most vulnerable members, and refusing to allow a single citizen to suffer because of a lack of means, this republic proclaims that all people have a right to quality healthcare and shall establish and maintain universal access to such care for each of its citizens regardless of previous conditions.

6. Acknowledging the dangers of a separate soldier class and believing that the burden of defending this republic should belong to all its citizens, each citizen is required to complete two years of compulsory military service before their thirty-fifth birthday unless otherwise excused with a physical or mental disability by an independent review board establish by the legislature.

7. The right to bear arms is guaranteed to each citizen of this republic, but is subject to reasonable measures of control and supervision as determined by the legislature and affirmed by the courts.

8. Election Day shall be declared a national holiday and will occur on a date designated by the legislature. This date, once set, cannot be changed by less than a two-thirds vote of congress. All citizens shall be automatically registered to vote at the age of sixteen. Failure to vote in three consecutive national elections shall result in the loss of citizenship for the offender unless exempted with good cause by an independent judiciary board.

9. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, effects, and personal information against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Furthermore, any property seized by an agent of the court or by a law enforcement agency must be returned to its owner if that owner has been found innocent of the crime of which they were accused or if they have not been charged of any crime related to the issued warrant within thirty days of that warrants issue.

10. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

11. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

12. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

13. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

14. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

15. The powers not delegated to the Western States of America by this Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Article II

Section 1
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the Western States of America, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section 2
The members of the House of Representatives shall be selected every third year and shall be allotted positions in the legislature based upon a proportional representation of the vote their party received in each of the individual states.

No Person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of eighteen years, and been five years a citizen of the Western States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, per their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by the number of citizens present in the state at the time of its inclusion in this union and adjusted within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the Western States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by Law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at Least one Representative. When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such vacancies. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

No member of the House of Representatives may serve more than four consecutive terms in the House and if having reached that limit the member must excuse himself from governmental service for a period of at least six years before he may again submit his name for election to this House.

SECTION 3
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state with each senator being selected in an individual election by a plurality of that states eligible voters to serve for a period of six years; and each senator shall have one vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, the Executive thereof may make a temporary appointment to fill the vacant seat until it is again up for election.

No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been five years a citizen of the Western States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the Western States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the Western States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the Western States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

SECTION 4
The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators. The Congress shall assemble at least four times in every Year, and such Meetings shall be on the first days of February, May, August, and November unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

SECTION 5
Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.

Each House shall make its proceeding open to the public and keep a record of those proceedings to be published at the end of each week in which it was in session, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall be entered on the Journal. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

SECTION VI
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. Any law passed to alter the previously prescribed compensation shall not take effect until after the next election of the affected seats. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

SECTION VII
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the Western States; If he approves he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively.

If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

SECTION VIII
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the Western States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the Western States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Native American Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress and to exercise sole authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings;

And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the Western States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

SECTION IX
The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year two thousand and twenty five.

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published at the start of the first congressional session of the calendar year.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States:

And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

SECTION X
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Control of the Congress. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Article II

SECTION 1
The executive power shall be vested in a President of the Western States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of five Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected by a plurality of the eligible voters of all the states. These voters shall rank their preference for president and vice-president with the number one indicating their first choice, the number two indicating their second choice, and so on for as many candidates as appear on the ballot in the state in which they reside. The President and the Vice President shall not be, at the time of their election or any time in the previous five years before their election, residents of the same state.

The legislatures of each state shall be responsible for the count of these voters and their vote. The legislatures shall, at the conclusion and verification of their count; sign, certify, and transmit the results to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the first-choice votes of the states shall then be counted and added together.

The Person having the greatest number of first-choice votes shall be the President, if such number be higher than forty percent of the eligible voting population of the Western States of America. If no person achieves the threshold of forty percent, the number of second-choice votes shall be added to the total of each candidate. The candidate with the highest number of first and second-choice votes shall be President, if that number of votes is equivalent to or greater than forty percent of the eligible voting population of the Western States. If, having added the first and second choice votes together, no candidate has equaled or passed the forty percent threshold; then the third-choice votes shall be added to the total and the candidate with the most votes shall be President regardless of the forty percent threshold.

No Person except a Citizen of the Western States, shall be eligible to the Office of President or Vice President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been twelve years a resident within the Western States.

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the Western States, or any of them.

Before he enters on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:
“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the Western States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Western States of America.”

SECTION. 2.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Western States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States;

he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices,

and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and
Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur;
and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law:

But the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the end of their next Session.

The President shall also have the power to fill up any Vacancy that has endured for the length of a full session of the Senate without the President’s selection being approved or rejected by the Senate. This appointment shall last for the regularly prescribed term of the appointed office or if no set term has been established to the end of the President’s term of office.

SECTION. 3.
He shall, in person on a date set aside during the first congressional session of each calendar year, provide to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;

He may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper;

He shall be responsible for the reception of Foreign Ambassadors and other such public Ministers;

He shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

SECTION. 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Article 4
The Judicial Branch

Section 1
The judicial Power of the Western States, shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

The Judges of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President of the Western States with the Advice and Consent of the Senate as previously prescribed in this document. The Supreme Court shall consist of nine justices serving staggered twenty-seven year terms. With the first eight appointments to the court serving truncated terms of three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen, twenty-one, and twenty-four years respectively.

Section 2
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Section 4
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

Article 5

Section 1
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section 2
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

Section 3
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

Any geographically contiguous area, consisting of a population of at least one-hundred and twenty thousand persons, may apply for membership in this union regardless of its proximity or position to thin union or to a foreign power.

For a population to join this union as a full-member state it must first hold a referendum of its people in which a simple majority of those who vote choose to request membership. The applicant states membership shall then be subject to a referendum of the people of the Western States who will, on a date prescribed by congress which shall be a national holiday, vote to accept or reject the applicant states petition for membership. A vote of fifty-five percent accept shall be the threshold for approval of the new state. The applicant state must then hold a second referendum in which a sixty percent majority shall constitute an affirmation of its wish to join the Western States. If the request for membership has been affirmed by all three of these measures the applicant state shall immediately become a provisional state of this union and shall undergo the transitions necessary to become a full member state as prescribed by the congress. Such prescriptions must not deny or abridge any rights of the citizens of this new state under the laws and constitution of the Western States and any transitionary requirements must be met within two years of the final referendum at which point the provisional state becomes a full member state of this union.

Any attempt to interfere with the democratic self-determination of an applicant state to this union shall be considered by this union to be an act of war against the Western States of America.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular state.

Section 4
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Article VI

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year Two thousand and thirty shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Article VII

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the Western States under this Constitution, as under their previous Union.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the Western States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any state to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the Western States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Article VIII

The Ratification of the Conventions of two States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.