Portion of States Needed to Ratify a Constitutional Amendment
Three-fourths of the states are required to ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This requirement applies whether the amendment is ratified by:
- The state legislatures of three-fourths of the states, or
- Ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states
Congress determines which method will be used for each proposed amendment. With 50 states currently in the Union, this means that 38 states must approve an amendment for it to become part of the Constitution
. This high threshold ensures that any constitutional change has broad and substantial support across the nation.
