Times of elections.

Suffrage qualifications.

CHAPTER V

ELECTIONS AND PARTY GOVERNMENT

In the local and State governments of our country the number of officers elected is very large and the terms of office are short; hence elections are of frequent occurrence. Town, village, and city elections generally occur in the spring of the year, while State and county officers are elected at the same time with members of Congress, on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November in the even-numbered years. There are, however, some exceptions to these general rules.

Since suffrage qualifications are fixed by the different States, there are many variations in details, though general agreement prevails upon the fundamental requirements. 1. The age at which a person may vote is uniformly twenty-one years. 2. Manhood suffrage is usual. Very few States have granted full suffrage to women-at present Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho. In most States of the Union women vote at school elections. 3. It is usual to require a residence of six months or one year in the State where a person wishes to vote; also, a brief term of residence in the election district. 4. Full United States citizenship is required in a majority of the States. In the others ta

*The National government controls suffrage in the States through Amendment XV of the United States Constitution; also, indirectly through Article I, section 2, clause 1. Section 2 of Amendment XIV might, if it were enforced, act as a restraint upon the States in their restrictions of the suffrage. See pp. 142-143.

† Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin.

foreigner who has declared his intention to become a citizen is given the right to vote.

The right of suffrage is withheld from certain classes of citizens, such as the insane and the feebleminded, and those who have been convicted of certain crimes. One hundred years ago there were property qualifications for voters in every State in the Union. The democratic movement of the first third of the nineteenth century swept these laws away. At present the payment of a tax is a requirement in a few States.* In Connecticut, Massachusetts, Wyoming, Maine, Delaware, California, and several of the Southern States, an educational qualification has been fixed.†

tion.

Within the last two decades great changes have taken place in the manner of conducting elections in the United States, as the result of efforts to check widespread election abuses. Among these abuses was repeating;" that is, voters went from one polling place to another, voting at each. It was comparatively easy to commit this fraud in large cities; the enactment of registration laws has materially checked this evil. At a Registrastated time before an election the voter must have his name and residence recorded with the election officials. The registry lists are published so that false registration may be detected. Such laws exist in a majority of the States, though their action is in some cases confined to the larger cities, and here the laws are sometimes not strictly enforced. As each ballot is cast the voter's name is checked in the registry list. Voters who have failed to register may swear in" their votes; that is, take oath that they are qualified electors. This opens the way to fraud and is consequently prohibited in the large cities. In the main, it is recognized that

* Georgia, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, North and South Carolina. + See pp. 142-143.

registration must be a feature of every good election system.

Many other forms of election abuses were checked by the adoption of the Australian ballot system, which now exists in all but one or two of the States. Under former election methods, each political party printed its own list of candidates, or the tickets might be printed by individuals. A variety of frauds might then be committed. A number of tissue-paper ballots were sometimes folded together and cast as one ballot. Candidates could have ballots printed like those of the rival party with the exception of one or two names. Or, slips of gummed paper (called "pasters") with the name of one candidate, could be fastened upon the ballots. In these and similar ways ignorant and careless voters were often The Austra deceived. Hence we now have the official ballot, printed by the government, on which the names of all the candidates must appear. Another essential feature of the Australian ballot system is secrecy. This has effectually checked bribery at the polls, for the buyer of votes can no longer be certain how any voter casts his ballot. The ballots must be obtained from election officials within the election booth; screened shelves are provided to which the voter must immediately take his ballot and mark it. He must then fold and cast the ballot without communication with any but election officials. Electioneering" is prohibited within or near a booth.

lian ballot system.

Two forms of the official ballot are used, as illustrated below.

1. The original Australian ballot form.

For Governor.

A. B.

C. D

E. F

Party.
Democratic.

Prohibition.

Republican.

More intelligence and care are required in the use of the first form; the second form favors the voting of straight tickets.

The success of any ballot system in preventing frauds and encouraging independent voting depends as much upon the integrity of election officials as upon the election machinery provided by law. It is customary to have the inspectors and clerks of election selected from the two leading parties. Challengers are allowed to question the right of any man to vote.

canvass.

After the polls are closed, the counting of votes, or official canvass, takes place. Returns from the election The precincts are sent to the city, county, and district canvassing boards to be tabulated. The results are then sent to the State canvassing board. Each board has authority to decide which candidates are elected within its jurisdiction. Certificates of election are issued to

The nomination system.

Party committees.

The caucus or primary.

successful candidates, and thus the process of election is completed.

An election is a means by which the popular will is expressed. The execution of the judgment thus made known by the voters is intrusted to the successful candidates for office. But the election is only the final step by which men reach office; first comes the selection of candidates by the political parties. The process of making nominations is no less important than the election itself.

Party nominations are generally brought about by a system of caucuses and conventions. The management of these meetings, and of party interests in general, is in the hands of a series of committees elected for the various governmental divisions. Each party has a local committee in every town, village, and ward. There are also, for each party, city committees for the management of party machinery in cities; county committees; a State committee, which controls campaigns and determines party policy in the State; and, finally, a National committee for the management of each National party organization. Besides these, there may be committees for each State Senate and Assembly district, and for each Congressional district. All except the local committees are appointed in the party conventions.*

A caucus, or primary, is a meeting at which all the voters of a party in a town, village, or ward may assemble. Before the election of town, village, and ward officers, caucuses will nominate candidates directly. For all but these local elections (i.e., for the nomination of county, State, and National officers) a second step is necessary; the caucuses choose delegates to conventions where these

* This account represents the party organizations as complete; they are not so in many parts of the country.