3/2 Equal Limits Amendment
Constructed Demonstration Specimen
Prepared as part of the Rotation Research project · last revised May 2026
What this document is
This page presents a constructed congressional endpoint eligibility architecture designed for one purpose: to demonstrate how the Rotation Research Framework evaluates a fully specified endpoint system.
It is not presented as advocacy, a legislative proposal, or a recommended political outcome. It is presented as a transparent analytical specimen, allowing readers to observe how the Framework operates when applied to a coherent constitutional design.
This architecture is evaluated under the Framework as compliant with:
equal application,
endpoint limits → Rotation in Office,
limited, finite transition structure,
and Equal Duration Limit (EDL) → EDL Definition.
Under the Framework, Equal Duration Limit (EDL) evaluates not only elapsed years of potential service, but also the frequency of electoral authorization events through which officeholding continuity is renewed.
Under the Rotation Research Framework, constructed constitutional amendments are evaluated as complete Article V proposing instruments, including the resolving clause specifying ratification mode and timing.
Accordingly, this analytical specimen includes a resolving clause specifying ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures and intentionally omitting a ratification time limit, consistent with Article V text, the most recently ratified amendment precedent, and early post-Thornton Senate drafting practice. The resolving clause is included solely to permit complete structural evaluation and does not alter the non-advocacy posture of this document.
Full Text of the 3/2 Equal Limits Amendment
Resolving Clause (Analytical Specimen)
The resolving clause is included solely to complete the proposing instrument for purposes of Framework evaluation and analysis as a fully specified Article V object.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein),
That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States.
Article
Section 1. Equal Limit
No person shall be elected to the House of Representatives more than three times, nor to the Senate more than two times. No person may evade these limits by alternating between chambers.
Section 2. Transitional Application
Any person serving in the House or the Senate at the time of ratification who would become ineligible for election under Section 1 at the next election for that office may be elected one additional time.
This allowance shall apply only to the first election for which such person is eligible following ratification. If not exercised at that election, the allowance shall expire.
All prior service shall be counted toward the limits established in this Article, and no reset of terms shall occur.
Section 3. Counting of Elections and Service
For purposes of this Article:
(a) All service in the House or the Senate, whether commenced by election or appointment, whether occurring before or after ratification, shall be counted toward the limits established in Section 1.
(b) Service during more than one year of a term in the House, or more than three years of a term in the Senate, shall be counted as one election for that chamber.
(c) Resignation, retirement, defeat, or any period of non-service shall not reset eligibility; all prior service remains counted for any future election.
(d) Service in any House district shall be aggregated as House service, and service representing any State shall be aggregated as Senate service.
Section 4. Anti-Circumvention
No interpretation, procedure, or action shall extend eligibility beyond the limits established in Section 1.
Without limitation, the following shall not be permitted to evade the limits imposed by this Article:
(a) changing chambers;
(b) sequencing or alternating elections between chambers;
(c) resignation, retirement, or temporary withdrawal from office;
(d) characterizing service as elected, appointed, partial, or otherwise to exclude it from counting.
Section 5. Limitation on Congressional Authority; State Coordination
Congress shall have no power to waive, suspend, extend, or otherwise modify the limits imposed by this Article.
States may voluntarily cooperate to share information, including factual records of prior elections, regarding the ministerial application of this Article.
Questions for Further Exploration
In what ways is this reference draft similar to and different from the Twenty-Second Amendment?
How does Equal Duration Limit (EDL) evaluate differences in electoral authorization frequency between chambers?
What distinguishes a limited, finite transition structure from a permanently exempt eligibility class?
How does the reference draft limit circumvention through resignation, interruption of service, chamber-switching, or appointment?
Document Metadata
Scope: Congressional offices only
Classification: Single-Class Endpoint Eligibility Architecture
Transition Structure: Limited, finite transitional allowance
Unit of Measure: Elections
Aggregation: Lifetime, non-restorable
Equal Duration Limit (EDL): Compliant
Last revised: May 2026
Explore related material
→ Worked Example: 3/2 Equal Limits Amendment
Last updated — May 2026