[jjotto]

By the passing of the 17th, only a very few states did not have some sort of popular referendum on selecting senators. Recall the famous Lincoln-Douglas Debates, which were an appeal to the general voting public rather than to state legislators, who were expected to abide by the people’s choice.

[ScaniaBoy]

Thanks for that historical information. A Constitution or a State does not usually fall with one fell sweep, but often during a longer period of slow change (eg Rome of antiquity).

Recall the famous Lincoln-Douglas Debates, which were an appeal to the general voting public rather than to state legislators...

But Douglas won, even though Lincoln was elected to the Presidency a couple of years later.