What problems was the Seventeenth Amendment intended to solve? Select all answers that are true.

Before the Seventeenth Amendment, state legislatures chose U.S. senators. Legislative deadlocks sometimes left Senate seats vacant for long periods, and political machines could influence or control the selection process. The amendment made senators directly elected by voters to address these problems. It did not make senators’ terms longer, and it was not intended to reduce the people’s influence; direct election increased it.

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