How many states are required to ratify an amendment to the Constitution?

The requirement for ratifying an amendment to the Constitution is that three-fourths of the states must agree to it. This means that if there are currently 50 states in the United States, 38 states would need to ratify the amendment for it to become officially part of the Constitution. This high threshold reflects the framers' intention to ensure that only amendments with substantial consensus across the states would be adopted, thus maintaining a strong degree of stability in the constitutional framework.

The other options do not accurately represent the process outlined in Article V of the Constitution: a simple majority or two-thirds of the states does not suffice for ratification, and requiring unanimity from all states is impractical and does not align with the framers’ vision for a flexible yet rigorous amendment process.