<P> The Utah legislature rejected the amendment on February 26, 1913 . No action on the amendment has been completed by: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, or Virginia . </P> <P> The Seventeenth Amendment altered the process for electing United States Senators and changed the way vacancies would be filled . Under the original constitutional provision, state legislatures filled vacancies when a Senator left office before the end of their term . </P> <P> The Seventeenth Amendment had a dramatic impact on the political composition of the U.S. Senate . Before the Supreme Court required "one man, one vote" in Reynolds v. Sims (1964), malapportionment of state legislatures was common . For example, rural counties and cities could be given "equal weight" in the state legislatures, enabling one rural vote to equal 200 city votes . The malapportioned state legislatures would have given the Republicans control of the Senate in the 1916 Senate elections . With direct election, each vote represented equally, the Democrats retained control of the Senate . </P> <P> The reputation of corrupt and arbitrary state legislatures continued to decline as the Senate joined the House of Representatives implementing popular reforms . Judge Bybee has argued that the amendment led to complete "ignominy" for state legislatures without the props of a state - based check on Congress . Progressive measures were enacted to enable the federal government to supersede the discredited states repeatedly over decades . However, Schleiches argues that the separation of state legislatures and the Senate has had a beneficial effect on the states, as it has allowed state legislative campaigns to focus on local rather than national issues . </P>

What is the 17th amendment to the constitution