UNITED STATES SENATE:
Electoral "Classes"

"Immediately after [the Senate of the United States] 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"-

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: ARTICLE I, Section 3, clause 2




TABLE I. BY "CLASS"

States in each "Class" listed in alphabetical order

NOTE: [letters] and [numerals] in brackets refer to the order in which each state appears in TABLE II.


Class 1
[next regular election:
Tuesday 5 November 2024]
Class 2
[next regular election:
Tuesday 3 November 2026]
Class 3
[next regular election:
Tuesday 7 November 2028]
Arizona [47] Alabama [22] Alabama [22]
California [31] Alaska [49] Alaska [49]
Connecticut [C] Arkansas [25] Arizona [47]
Delaware [F] Colorado [38] Arkansas [25]
Florida [27] Delaware [F] California [31]
Hawaii [50] Georgia [J] Colorado [38]
Indiana [19] Idaho [44] Connecticut [C]
Maine [23] Illinois [21] Florida [27]
Maryland [G] Iowa [30] Georgia [J]
Massachusetts [B] Kansas [34] Hawaii [50]
Michigan [26] Kentucky [15] Idaho [44]
Minnesota [32] Louisiana [18] Illinois [21]
Mississippi [20] Maine [23] Indiana [19]
Missouri [24] Massachusetts [B] Iowa [30]
Montana [42] Michigan [26] Kansas [34]
Nebraska [37] Minnesota [32] Kentucky [15]
Nevada [36] Mississippi [20] Louisiana [18]
New Jersey [D] Montana [42] Maryland [G]
New Mexico [48] Nebraska [37] Missouri [24]
New York [11] New Hampshire [A] Nevada [36]
North Dakota [40] New Jersey [D] New Hampshire [A]
Ohio [17] New Mexico [48] New York [11]
Pennsylvania [E] North Carolina [12] North Carolina [12]
Rhode Island [13] Oklahoma [46] North Dakota [40]
Tennessee [16] Oregon [33] Ohio [17]
Texas [28] Rhode Island [13] Oklahoma [46]
Utah [45] South Carolina [I] Oregon [33]
Vermont [14] South Dakota [41] Pennsylvania [E]
Virginia [H] Tennessee [16] South Carolina [I]
Washington [39] Texas [28] South Dakota [41]
West Virginia [35] Virginia [H] Utah [45]
Wisconsin [29] West Virginia [35] Vermont [14]
Wyoming [43] Wyoming [43] Washington [39]
Wisconsin [29]
Class 1 Class 2 Class 3



TABLE II. BY STATE

States listed in order of drawing of lots to determine electoral "Class"

NOTE:(letters) in parentheses refer to footnotes underneath this table.
"date lots drawn" is the date by which both of the first Senators elected by the State had been sworn in and officially seated but does not necessarily coincide with the date on- or even the order in- which the State was formally admitted to the Union.


State date lots drawn Electoral "Classes"
A. New Hampshire(a) 15 May 1789 Class 2 Class 3
B. Massachusetts(a) 15 May 1789 Class 1 Class 2
C. Connecticut(a) 15 May 1789 Class 1 Class 3
D. New Jersey(a) 15 May 1789 Class 1 Class 2
E. Pennsylvania(a) 15 May 1789 Class 1 Class 3
F. Delaware(a) 15 May 1789 Class 1 Class 2
G. Maryland(a) 15 May 1789 Class 1 Class 3
H. Virginia(a) 15 May 1789 Class 1 Class 2
I. South Carolina(a) 15 May 1789 Class 2 Class 3
J. Georgia(a) 15 May 1789 Class 2 Class 3
11. New York(b) 28 July 1789 Class 1 Class 3
12. North Carolina(c) 29 January 1790 Class 2 Class 3
13. Rhode Island(d) 25 June 1790 Class 1 Class 2
14. Vermont(b) 4 November 1791 Class 1 Class 3
15. Kentucky(c) 5 November 1792 Class 2 Class 3
16. Tennessee(d) 5 December 1796 Class 1 Class 2
17. Ohio(b) 25 October 1803 Class 1 Class 3
18. Louisiana(c) 7 December 1812 Class 2 Class 3
19. Indiana(d) 12 December 1816 Class 1 Class 3
20. Mississippi(b) 11 December 1817 Class 1 Class 2
21. Illinois(c) 4 December 1818 Class 2 Class 3
22. Alabama(d) 22 December 1819 Class 2 Class 3
23. Maine(b) 13 November 1820 Class 1 Class 2
24. Missouri(c) 3 December 1821 Class 1 Class 3
25. Arkansas(d) 5 December 1836 Class 2 Class 3
26. Michigan(b) 26 January 1837 Class 1 Class 2
27. Florida(c) 1 December 1845 Class 1 Class 3
28. Texas(d) 30 March 1846 Class 1 Class 2
29. Wisconsin(b) 26 June 1848 Class 1 Class 3
30. Iowa(c) 26 December 1848 Class 2 Class 3
31.California(d) 10 September 1850 Class 1 Class 3
32.Minnesota(b) 12 May 1858 Class 1 Class 2
33. Oregon(c) 14 February 1859 Class 2 Class 3
34. Kansas(d) 4 July 1861 Class 2 Class 3
35. West Virginia(b) 7 December 1863 Class 1 Class 2
36. Nevada(c) 1 February 1865 Class 1 Class 3
37. Nebraska(d) 4 March 1867 Class 1 Class 2
38. Colorado(b) 4 December 1876 Class 2 Class 3
39. Washington(c) 2 December 1889 Class 1 Class 3
40. North Dakota(d) 4 December 1889 Class 1 Class 3
41. South Dakota(b) 4 December 1889 Class 2 Class 3
42. Montana(c) 16 April 1890 Class 1 Class 2
43. Wyoming(d) 1 December 1890 Class 1 Class 2
44. Idaho(b) 5 January 1891 Class 2 Class 3
45. Utah(c) 27 January 1896 Class 1 Class 3
46. Oklahoma(d) 16 December 1907 Class 2 Class 3
47. Arizona(b) 2 April 1912 Class 1 Class 3
48. New Mexico(c) 2 April 1912 Class 1 Class 2
49. Alaska(d) 7 January 1959 Class 2 Class 3
50. Hawaii(b) 24 August 1959 Class 1 Class 3

(a) On 14 May 1789, the Senate approved a plan to implement the requirements of Art.I, Sec.3, cl.2 of the U.S. Constitution that the Senate be divided into three electoral "Classes" so that one third of that body might be chosen every second year. There were 10 States represented in Congress at the time (of the original 13 independent United States, North Carolina and Rhode Island had not as yet ratified the Constitution while New York- although having already ratified that document- had not yet chosen its Senators): thus, 20 Senators were to be so divided into three groups, as follows...
GROUP A had a Senator each from N.H., Conn., Pa., Md., S.C. and Ga.
GROUP B had a Senator each from N.H., Mass., N.J., Del., Va., S.C. and Ga.
GROUP C had a Senator each from Mass., Conn., N.J., Pa., Del., Md. and Va.
The following day, the first Senator on each list (the two from N.H. and one from Mass.) each blindly drew from a box containing pieces of paper on which were inscribed the numerals "1", "2" and "3". As a result of this first lot drawing, GROUP C became "Class 1" to vacate their seats after the second year, GROUP B became "Class 2" to vacate their seats after the fourth year and GROUP A became "Class 3" to vacate their seats after the sixth year; originally, there were 7 Senators each in Classes "1" and "2" and 6 Senators in Class "3"- "Class 3", therefore, was short one Senator of a full one-third of the Senate. These results are reflected in the first ten states listed in TABLE II and labeled with the letters A through J.

(b) When NEW YORK [11 in TABLE II] seated its first two Senators, a double lot drawing was held to determine their electoral "Classes": first, each Senator blindly drew from a box containing a piece of paper on which was inscribed the numeral "3" [as it was "Class 3" which was, at the time, short one Senator of a full one-third of the Senate] and a piece of paper which was blank. Thereafter, the Senator who drew the blank piece of paper was obliged to again blindly draw, this time from a box containing pieces of paper inscribed with the numerals "1" and "2" [the remaining Classes]: he drew "1"- now "Class 1" had 8 Senators while Classes "2" and "3" had 7 Senators each, each being one Senator short of a full one-third of the Senate. Every third state after New York (those marked "(b)" in TABLE II: 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35, 38, 41, 44, 47 and 50) has had a similar double lot drawing in which the first draw is between whichever "Class" is short one Senator (this will always be the "Class" not chosen by either Senator from the immediately preceding State in the order of the drawing of lots in TABLE II) and a blank, after which the Senator who has drawn the blank draws from between the remaining two "Classes".

(c) When NORTH CAROLINA [12 in TABLE II] seated its first two Senators, a lot drawing was held to determine their electoral "Classes": each Senator blindly drew from a box containing pieces of paper on which were inscribed the numerals "2" and "3" [as it were these two "Classes" which were each short one Senator at the time]- each "Class" now had a full one-third of the Senate [8 of the then 24 Senators in each "Class"]. Every third state after North Carolina (those marked "(c)" in TABLE II: 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42, 45 and 48) has had a similar lot drawing in which the Senators draw from between the two "Classes" which are each one short of being equal with a third "Class" (these will always be other than the "Class" which appears next to BOTH of the two immediately preceding States in the order of the drawing of lots in TABLE II).

(d) When RHODE ISLAND [13 in TABLE II] seated its first two Senators, a lot drawing was held to determine their electoral "Classes": each Senator blindly drew from a box containing pieces of paper on which were inscribed the numerals "1", "2" and "3" as in the very first lot drawing [each "Class" up till now having had a full one-third of the Senate], each Senator only permitted to draw one piece of paper; as it happened, these Senators drew "1" and "2". Every third State after Rhode Island (those marked "(d)" in TABLE II: 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40, 43, 46 and 49) has had a similar lot drawing in which the Senators draw any two of all three "Classes".




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