NATIONAL
ARCHIVES
ARCHIVIST
NITED STATES
25 October 2012
The Honorable Carolyn Maloney
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Ms. Maloney:
Thank you for your letter requesting information about the ratification status of the
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and the role played by the National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA) in certifying amendments to the Constitution.
You asked for a list of the states that ratified the ERA, and a list of states that either
rejected the amendment, or rescinded an earlier ratification vote. I have attached a
chart showing this information.
‘You also asked for legal verification of statements on NARA‘s website page "The
Constitutional Amendment Process” (www.archives.gov/federal-register/constition).
This webpage states that a proposed Amendment becomes part of the Constitution as
soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the states, indicating that Congressional action
is not needed to certify that the Amendment has been added to the Constitution. It
also states that my certification of the legal sufficiency of ratification documents is final
and conclusive, and that a later rescission of a state's ratification is not accepted as
valid.
These statements are derived from 1 U.S.C. 106b, which says that: “Whenever official
notice is received at the National Archives and Records Administration that any
amendment proposed to the Constitution of the United States has been adopted,
according to the provisions of the Constitution, the Archivist of the United States shall
forthwith cause the amendment to be published, with his certificate, specifying the
‘States by which the same may have been adopted, and that the same has becomevalid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the Constitution of the United States.”
Under the authority granted by this statute, once NARA receives at least 38 state
ratifications of a proposed Constitutional Amendment, NARA publishes the amendment
along with a certification of the ratifications and it becomes part of the Constitution
without further action by the Congress. Once the process in 1 U.S.C. 106b is completed
the Amendment becomes part of the Constitution and cannot be rescinded. Another
Constitutional Amendment would be needed to abolish the new Amendment.
T hope this information answers your question and is of use to you. If you would like
more information or would like to discuss this issue further, please do not hesitate to
contact me again.
Sincerely,
Sadly —
DAVID S. FERRIERO
Archivist of the United StatesEQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT - PROPOSED MARCH 22, 1972
LIST OF STATE RATIFICATION ACTIONS
The following dates reflect the date of the state legislature's passage, the date of
filing withthe Governor or Secretary of State, or the date of certification by the
Governor or Secretary of State, whichever is the earliest date included in the
official documents sent to the National Archives, Office of the Federal Register.
STATE RATIFICATION STATE RATIFICATION
Alabama not ratified Montana Jan, 25, 1974
Alaska April 5, 1972 Nebraska* March 29, 1972
Arizona not ratified Nevada not ratified
Arkansas not ratified New Hampshire March 23, 1972
California Nov. 13, 1972 New Jersey April 17, 1972
Colorado April 21, 1972 New Mexico Feb. 28, 1973
Connecticut March 15, 1973 New York May 18, 1972
Delaware March 23, 1972 North Carolina not ratified
Florida not ratified North Dakota Feb. 3, 1975
Georgia not ratified Ohio Feb. 7, 1974
Hawaii March 22, 1972 Oklahoma not ratified
Idaho" March 24, 1872 Oregon Feb. 8, 1973
Uinots not ratified Pennsylvania Sept. 26, 1972
Indiana Jan, 24, 1977 Rhode Island April 14, 1972
lowe March 24, 1972 South Carolina not ratified
Kansas March 28, 1972 South Dakota’ Feb. §, 1973
Kentucky* June 27, 1972 Tennessee" April 4, 1972
Louisiana not ratified Texas March 90, 1972
» Maine dan 18, 1974 Utah Not ratified
Maryland’ May 26, 1972 Vermont March 1, 1973
Massachusetts -* * June 21,1972 Virginia not ratified
Michigan May 22, 1972 Washington March 22, 1973
Minnesota Feb. 8, 1973 West Virginia April 22, 1972
Mississippi not ratified Wisconsin April 26, 1972
Missouri not ratified Wyoming Jan, 26, 1973
* Purported Rescission
Nebraska March 15, 1973
Tennessee April 28, 1974
Idaho Feb. 8, 1977
Kentucky March 20, 1978
South Dakota March 5, 1979