This version of the Constitution of the United States of Mexico was written by Noel Maurer following the description in For Want of a Nail . . .. It is considered canonical within the For All Nails project (DAMB).
We, the people, in order to form a government, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence and general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the republic of the United States of Mexico.
ARTICLE I.
1. The powers of this government shall be divided into three departments: legislative, executive and judicial.
2. The legislative power shall be vested in a Senate and Assembly, to be styled the Congress of the United States of Mexico.
3. The members of the Assembly shall be elected by the eligible citizens of the United States of Mexico every third year from the year of ratification of this Constitution. The governments of the States of Mexico shall choose the qualifications of the electors according to their legally ratified charters. Congress shall specify the exact date of the election, except in the case of a special election called by the President of the United States of Mexico of the United States of Mexico. Members of the Assembly shall hold their offices two years from the date of their election, unless the President should call a special election before that time. Assembly members elected in such a special election shall serve until the next duly-scheduled election had a special election not intervened.
4. No person shall be eligible to a seat in the Assembly until he shall have attained the age of twenty-five years, shall be a citizen of the United States of Mexico, and shall have resided in the county, municipio, or district six months preceding his election.
5. As soon as the election of deputies is concluded, the State electoral boards shall, through their president, forward the act of election to the sitting President of the United States of Mexico. Thus duly certified, he shall notify in writing the persons appointed of their election, which shall serve as their credentials. Each member of the Senate and Assembly shall, before they proceed to business, take an oath to support the Constitution, as follows;
"I solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that, as a member of this general Congress, I will support the Constitution of the republic of the United States of Mexico, and will not propose or assent to any bill, vote, or resolution which shall appear to me injurious to the people."
6. The Assembly shall consist of one hundred members. Each State will have a number of deputies in the Assembly in accordance with the proportion of the State's free propertied citizens compared to the total number of free propertied citizens within the States of the United States of Mexico, as determined by a decennial census.
7. The Assembly shall have the sole power of impeachment, by a vote of two-thirds of its members.
8. The senators shall be chosen by the States of Mexico, and each State shall be entitled to four members.
9. The senators shall be chosen for the term of six years; shall be citizens of the United States of Mexico, reside in the State for which they are respectively chosen at least one year before the election; and shall have attained the age of thirty years.
10. The governments of the States of Mexico shall choose the method of selecting their senators according to their legally ratified charters. The date of their selection must occur on the same date as the election for the Assembly.
11. When the selection of senators concludes, the governors of the State from which the Senator was elected shall forward a certificate of the same to the President of the United States of Mexico, and make known to the persons elected their appointment by another instrument which shall serve as a credential of their election.
12. The President of the United States of Mexico, or his personal representative, shall be president of the Senate, but shall not vote on any question, unless the Senate be equally divided.
13. The Senate shall choose all other officers of their body. The Senate shall have the sole power to try impeachments, and when sitting as a court of impeachment, shall be under oath; but no conviction shall take place without the concurrence of two thirds of all the members present. When trying impeachments of executive officers, the Senate shall elect a president pro tempore to preside over the proceedings.
14. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall only extend to removal from office, and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States of Mexico; but the party shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law.
15. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, qualifications and returns of its own members. Two thirds of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members.
16. Each house may determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two thirds, may expel a member, but not a second time for the same offence.
17. Senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be fixed by law, but no increase of compensation, or diminution, shall take effect during the session at which such increase or diminution shall have been made. They shall, except in case of treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of Congress, 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.
18. Each house may punish, by imprisonment, during the session, any person not a member, who shall be guilty of any disrespect to the house, by any disorderly conduct in their presence.
19. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same, except such parts as in its judgment require secrecy. When any three members shall desire the yeas and nays on any question, they shall be entered on the journals.
20. Neither house, without the consent of the other, shall adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses may be sitting.
21. When vacancies happen in the Assembly, the president of the United States of Mexico shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
22. All legislation relating to the commerce, diplomatic relations, hostilities, or other interactions of the United States of Mexico with foreign States or Kingdoms shall originate in the Senate.
23. No bill originating in the Senate shall become law until it has been passed by a simple majority of those present, and then passed by a simple majority of those present in the Assembly.
24. No bill originating in the Assembly shall become law until it has been passed twice by a simple majority of those present, with at least a six-month interval between readings, unless, in cases of emergency, the President of the United States of Mexico deems it expedient to dispense with the rule. No bill originating in the Assembly shall become law until it has been passed by a simple majority of those present in the Senate.
25. After a bill shall have been rejected, no bill containing the same substance shall be passed into a law during the same session.
26. No person holding an office of profit under the United Sates of Mexico shall be eligible to a seat in either house of Congress. Nor shall any member of either house be eligible to any office which may be created, or the profits of which shall be increased, during his term of service.
27. No holder of public monies or collector thereof shall be eligible to a seat in either house of Congress until he shall have fully acquitted himself of all responsibility, and shall produce the proper officer's receipt thereof. Members of either house may protest against any act or resolution, and may have such protest entered on the journals of their respective houses.
28. No money shall be drawn from the public treasury but in strict accordance with appropriations made by law; and no appropriations shall be made for private or local purposes, unless two thirds of each house concur in such appropriations.
29. Every bill which shall have passed both Houses, shall be presented to the President of the United States of Mexico before it becomes a law. 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 (Sundays excepted) after it has been presented to him, the same shall become a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress prevents its return by their adjournment. The President may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other appropriation in the same bill. In such case he shall designate the appropriations disapproved; and shall return a copy of such appropriations, with his objections, to the House in which the bill shall have originated; and the same proceedings shall then be had as in case of other bills disapproved by the President.
30. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of both Houses may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States of Mexico and be approved by him before the same shall take effect. If disapproved by him, the resolution shall have to be repassed by two-thirds of both Houses, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill, in order to take effect.
ARTICLE II.
Sec. 1. Congress shall have the power to levy and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises for revenue, necessary to pay the debts, provide for the common defense and general welfare, and carry on the Government of the United States of Mexico. All duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States of Mexico.
2. Congress shall have the power to borrow money on the credit of the United States of Mexico.
3. Congress shall have the power to regulate commerce, to coin money, to regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin, and to fix the standard of weights and measures.
4. Congress shall have the power to provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States of Mexico.
5. Congress shall have the power to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations.
6. Congress shall have the power to constitute courts inferior to the Mexico Tribunal.
7. Congress shall have the power to establish post offices and post roads, open and improve roads, canals and other works without hindering the states from opening and improving their own, furnish lights, beacons, buoys, and other aids to navigation upon the coasts, improve harbors, erect custom-houses, and remove obstructions to river navigation.
8. Congress shall have the power to grant charters of incorporation, patents, and copyrights; and secure to the authors and inventors the exclusive use thereof for a limited time.
9. Congress shall have the power to establish uniform laws of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies, throughout the United States of Mexico.
10. Congress shall have the power to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and to regulate captures.
11. Congress shall have the power to provide and maintain an army and navy.
12. Congress shall have the power 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 of Mexico in order to execute the law, suppress insurrections, and repel invasion.
13. Congress shall have the power to exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of one or more States and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the Government of the United States of Mexico. Congress shall have the power to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, and for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and all other needful buildings.
14. Congress shall have the power to make all laws which shall be deemed necessary and proper to carry into effect the foregoing express grants of power, and all other powers vested in the government of the republic, or in any officer or department thereof.
16. Congress shall have the power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations concerning the property of the government of the United States of Mexico, including vacant and untitled lands not recognized by Congress to be under the jurisdiction of the various Indian tribes.
17. Congress shall have the power to overturn any act or decree of any State that it deems to be injurious to the people of the United States of Mexico, or against the spirit of this Constitution.
18. The United States of Mexico shall guarantee to every State of the United States of Mexico a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence.
19. Congress shall have the responsibility of properly funding a decennial census of all inhabitants and productive units within the United States of Mexico.
ARTICLE III.
Sec. 1. The importation of negroes of the African race from any foreign country is hereby forbidden. Congress is required to pass such laws as shall effectually prevent the same.
2. Congress shall have the power to prohibit the introduction of slaves or indentured servants from any foreign country.
3. 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.
4. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.
5.. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State, except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses.
6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another.
7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of ap-propriations made by law; and a regular Statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.
8. Congress shall appropriate no money from the Treasury except by a vote of two-thirds of both Houses, taken by yeas and nays, unless it be submitted to Congress by the President or for the purpose of the payment of claims against or the debts of the United States of Mexico.
9. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States of Mexico. No person holding any office of profit or trust under the United States of Mexico shall, without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State.
10. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
11. Every citizen shall have the right to bear arms in defence of himself and the republic of the United States of Mexico.
12. The sure and certain defence of a free people is a well regulated militia; Congress shall have the power to enact such laws as may be necessary to the organizing of the militia of the United States of Mexico.
13. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner. No soldier shall, in time of war, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner. but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
14. 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. No person shall be subject to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb for the same offense, compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.
15. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State wherein the crime shall have been committed. The accused shall also enjoy the right 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.
16. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in consequence of inability to pay.
ARTICLE IV.
Sec. 1. Each State annually must forward a copy of their constitutions and laws to the President of the United States of Mexico.
2. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation, grant letters of marque and reprisal, coin money, pass any bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts; or grant any title of nobility.
3. 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 its inspection laws. The net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the common Treasury of the United States of Mexico.
4. No duties levied on tonnage by a State for the improvement of its rivers and harbors navigated by the said vessels shall conflict with any treaties of the United States of Mexico with foreign nations. Any surplus revenue thus derived shall, after making such improvement, be paid into the common Treasury of the United States of Mexico. No shall State shall 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. But when any river divides or flows through two or more States they may enter into compacts with each other to improve the navigation thereof.
5. States may levy internal taxes as they see fit, provided that such taxes do not violate any other provisions of this Constitution or interfere with commerce among the States. The collection of internal taxes levied by the States shall be the responsibility of the executive departments of the United States of Mexico.
6. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States and shall have the right of transit and sojourn in any State of the United States of Mexico, along with their slaves and other property. The right of property in said slaves shall not be thereby impaired.
7. No State shall pass a law mandating imprisonment for debt in consequence of inability to pay.
8. Perpetuities or monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free government, and shall not be allowed; nor shall the law of primogeniture or entailments ever be in force in this republic.
9. No State shall harbor a person charged with treason, felony, or other crime against the laws of another State who flees from justice. Such persons, if found in another State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the State that has jurisdiction over the crime.
10. No slave or other person held to service or labor in any State of the United States of Mexico, under the laws thereof, who escapes or is lawfully carried into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor. Such slave or other person shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such slave belongs or to whom such service or labor may be due.
11. Ministers of the gospel being, by their profession, dedicated to God and the care of souls, ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions. Therefore, no minister of the gospel, or any priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to the office of the President of the United States of Mexico, nor to a seat in either branch of the Congress of the same.
ARTICLE V.
Sec. 1. The executive authority of the United States of Mexico shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled the president of the United States of Mexico.
2. The president of the United States of Mexico shall hold his office for a term of six years.
3. The president of the United States of Mexico shall be elected by a simple majority of the Senate of the Congress of the United States of Mexico, in an election to be held no later than two months upon their assumption of office. If no person have such majority in the Senate, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the Assembly shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. If the Assembly fails to choose a President, whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the 4th day of March next following, then the sitting President shall call new elections for the Congress of the United States of Mexico, after which the selection process shall begin anew.
4 No person shall be eligible to the office of president who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years and be a citizen of the United States of Mexico at the time of the adoption of this Constitution.
5 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. He shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States of Mexico, or any of the States.
6. Before he enters on the execution of his office he shall take the following oath or affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States of Mexico, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution thereof."
7 The President shall enter on the duties of his office on the second Monday in March next succeeding his election, and shall remain in office until his successor shall be duly qualified.
8 The President shall, at stated times, receive a compensation for his services, which shall not be increased or diminished during his continuance in office.
9. The President shall be responsible for publishing, circulating, and causing to be observed the laws and decrees of Congress. He shall execute the laws in order to preserve the exterior independence, interior union, and individual liberty of the United States of Mexico. He shall make regulations and orders for the better observance of the constitution and general laws. He shall also watch over the collection and disbursement of the general contributions and appropriations decreed by Congress under this Constitution, or the States.
10. The president shall have the power to ask of Congress the prorogation of their sessions for thirty working days or less. He may also convoke extra sessions of Ccongress when he thinks it necessary. In extraordinary circumstances the President may dissolve Congress and call for new elections to the Assembly and Senate within two months of his decree, although he may not call such a special election more than once within the regular term of the Assembly. Such elections shall be conducted according to the provisions of this Constitution.
11. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States of Mexico, and of the militia. As such, he may dispose of the permanent army and navy and the active militia for the interior security and external defence of the nation. He may also commission and remove the officers of the permanent army and navy and of the armed and active militia, observing therein the dispositions of the law. The President shall also have the power to grant discharges and furloughs, and regulate the pensions of the military, also according to the law.
11. The President shall appoint and remove at pleasure the secretary of state. He shall also nominate, and appoint by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, the heads of the Treasury, the Executive Departments, ambassadors, public ministers and consuls, superior officers of the permanent army and navy, and of the armed and active militia, judges of the Mexico Tribunal, and all other officers of the United States of Mexico whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law.
12. 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. He shall have the power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States of Mexico, or any of the several States, except in cases of impeachment. He shall have the power to overturn any act or decree of any State that he deems to be injurious to the people of the United States of Mexico, or against the spirit of this Constitution.
13. The President shall have the power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties.
14. The President shall have power to fill all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. No person rejected by the Senate shall be reappointed to the same office during their ensuing recess.
15. Every person who shall be chosen or appointed to any office of trust or profit shall, before entering on the duties thereof, take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States of Mexico, and also an oath of office.
16 The President shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information of the State of the Mexican nation, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. He may convene or adjourn both Houses. He shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers.
17. The President shall see that prompt and perfect justice is administered by the Mexico Tribunal and other courts of the United States, and that their decrees be carried into effect, according to law. In all controversies except criminal cases, the President may request that the Mexico Tribunal re-examine a decision within three months of its original resolution.
18. In case of the removal, death, resignation, or incapacitation of the President, the Senate shall select an acting President by a majority vote. The acting President shall serve for the remainder of the former President's term in office.
19. The President may once, within ten working days, make observations on laws and decrees passed by Congress, and suspend their publication until the resolution of Congress, except in cases provided for by the constitution.
20. When the welfare and security of the United States so requires, the President may arrest persons, placing them, within forty-eight hours, at the disposition of competent tribunals.
21. The President and all civil officers of the United States of Mexico, shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE VI.
Sec. 1. The judicial powers of the United States of Mexico shall be vested in one Mexico Tribunal, and such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges of the Mexico Tribunal and inferior courts shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services compensation which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
2. The Mexico Tribunal shall consist of a chief justice and six associate judges, chosen by the President of the United States of Mexico by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Except for the first six to be appointed under this Constitution, all associate judges of the Mexico Tribunal must have previously served in the Senate or as president of the United States of Mexico.
3. The Mexico Tribunal or such inferior courts as Congress may establish shall have exclusive jurisdiction in all civil cases in which the amount in controversy amounts to more than three hundred dolares.
4. The Mexico Tribunal or such inferior courts as Congress may establish shall also have exclusive jurisdiction in all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and all controversies to which the United States of Mexico shall be a party.
5. The Mexico Tribunal or such inferior courts as Congress may establish shall have exclusive jurisdiction in controversies between two or more States, a State and citizens of another State, or civil cases where the State is plaintiff.
6. The Mexico Tribunal or such inferior courts as Congress may establish shall have exclusive jurisdiction in controversies between citizens claiming lands under grants of different States; and between a State or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects.
7. No State may be sued by a citizen or subject of a foreign State.
8. In all other cases or controversies within the limits of the United States of Mexico, the Mexico Tribunal shall have appellate jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
9. The Mexico Tribunal shall hold its sessions annually, at such times and places as may be fixed by law; Provided, that no judge shall sit in a case in the Mexico Tribunal tried by him in the court below.
10. Congress shall, as early as practicable, introduce, by statute, the common law of England, with such modifications as circumstances, in their judgment, may require, in all cases before the Mexico Tribunal and such inferior courts as Congress may establish.
11. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury. Such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed. When not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as Congress may by law have directed.
12. Treason against the United States of Mexico 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.
13. 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 VII
Sec. 1. That no inconvenience may arise from the adoption of this Constitution, all laws now in force in the former States of Jefferson and Mexico, and not inconsistent with this Constitution, shall remain in full force until declared void, repealed, altered, or expire by their own limitation.
2. The English and Spanish versions of this Constitution will be equally authentic, and all laws of the United States of Mexico shall be published in both languages before they shall take effect, both versions of which shall be considered equally authentic. Congress shall have the right, however, to select a single language in which to conduct its debates.
3. All debts, fines, penalties, forfeitures and escheats, which have accrued to the former republics of Jefferson or Mexico, shall accrue to the United States of Mexico.
4. All judges, sheriffs, commissioners, and other civil officers shall remain in office, and in the discharge of the powers and duties of their respective offices, until there shall be others appointed or elected under the Constitution.
ARTICLE VIII
Sec. 1. Laws shall be made to exclude from office, from the right of suffrage, and from serving on juries those who shall hereafter be convicted of bribery, perjury, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
2 So soon as convenience will permit, there shall be a penal code formed on principles of reformation, and not of vindictive justice. The civil and criminal laws shall be translated, revised, digested, and arranged under different heads; and all laws relating to land titles shall be translated, revised, and promulgated.
3. Any amendment or amendments to this Constitution, may be proposed in the Assembly or Senate. If Congress passes said amendment or amendments by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, then it shall be the duty of Congress to submit the proposed amendment or amendments to the States in such manner and at such times as the Congress shall prescribe. If the States shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments by a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of Congress voting thereon, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of this Constitution.
ARTICLE IX (ratified 1864)
1. Article V, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States of Mexico is hereby repealed.
2. The President of the United States of Mexico shall be elected by a ballot of all Mexican citizens qualified to vote in elections for the Assembly of the Congress of the United States of Mexico. Such election shall be held on a date prescribed by Congress by law. Such date shall be no later than one year before the year in which a presidential election is due, and shall coincide with the date set for the elections of the Assembly and Senate of the Congress of the United States of Mexico.
3. Should no candidate for President receive a majority in the balloting, then the Senate shall select the President from among the two leading candidates for the post.
4. The President of the United States of Mexico shall be required to take the oath of office no less than two months and no more than five from the date of his election, as prescribed by Congress by law.
5. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States of Mexico is hereby repealed.
6. Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution of the United States of Mexico is hereby repealed.
7. Each State shall be entitled to four Senators.
8. Senators shall be elected by a ballot of all Mexican citizens qualified to vote in elections for the Assembly of the Congress of the United States of Mexico, and who have resided in the State for more than a period of six months.
9. Should no candidate for a Senate seat receive a majority in the balloting, then the Legislature of that State shall select the winner from among the two leading candidates for the seat.
ARTICLE X (ratified 1865)
1. Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution of the United States of Mexico is hereby repealed.
2. The Assembly shall consist of one hundred members. Each State will have a number of deputies in the Assembly in accordance with the proportion of the State's inhabitants compared to the total number of inhabitants within the States of the United States of Mexico, as determined by a decennial census.
ARTICLE XI (ratified 1865)
1. Article I, Section 24 of the Constitution of the United States of Mexico is hereby repealed.
2. No bill originating in the Assembly shall become law until it has been passed by a simple majority of those present, and then passed by a simple majority of those present in the Senate.
ARTICLE XII (ratified 1902)
1. In the case of the death or incapacitation of the President of the United States of Mexico, his duly-appointed Secretary of State shall assume the office of President for the remainder of his term.
2. The first duty of a newly-appointed President, upon swearing the oath of office, shall be to designate a Secretary of State.
3. Congress shall by law provide an order of succession in case of the removal, death, resignation, or incapacitation of both of the President and Secretary of State, designating which officers shall act as President. Such officer shall act accordingly until the next regularly-scheduled presidential election.