majorities. For almost all offices filled by popular election, only a plurality of Pluralities votes is necessary to elect. Certain of the New England States for- and merly required a majority over all others for their governors, but as a second election was then often necessary, a majority is no longer demanded, except in Vermont, where the legislature is allowed to elect the governor if no one has a majority. tion of Hart, Actual Gov't, §§ 34-35. 30. Who may Vote. The qualifications for voters are General prescribed by the States in their constitutions. The Fif- qualificateenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, how- voters. ever, prevents the States from denying to citizens the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, so that, although the requirements are not the same in all the States, the differences are, on the whole, not very great. Two thirds of the States permit only citizens to Fuller, Gov't by take part in elections, but thirteen give the right of suffrage to aliens who have declared their intention of becoming citizens. In four States - Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utahwomen are allowed to vote on the same terms as men. over the country voters must be at least twenty-one years of age, and must have been residents of the State a certain period, varying from three months to two years, and of the county and precinct a shorter time. All People, 10-21. Persons who are insane or otherwise mentally incompe- Persons tent are universally excluded from voting, as are men con- disqualified victed of some serious crime, for which they have not been subsequently pardoned. Inmates of public institutions usually, and paupers sometimes, are debarred from the suf frage, and many States demand the prepayment of taxes. Efforts have been made to raise the intellectual standard of the voters by shutting out those who cannot read or write. Some of the Southern States require ability to read, or possession of a fairly large amount of property. Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, California, Wyoming, Educational and the States mentioned below demand an ability to read. Mississippi and other allows men to vote who can understand the Constitution when read to them. North Carolina has an educational test, but does not apply tests. Bruce, Rise of New South, 447-453. Before 1800. Between 1800 and 1870. it to those who voted or whose ancestors voted before 1867. South Carolina does not deprive those intellectually unfit if they own property assessed at $300. In Alabama voters must be able to read or must own property worth $300, unless they have seen military serv ice. Virginia requires ability to read or understand the Constitution, or the payment of a state tax not less than one dollar per year, unless the individual has seen military service or is the son of an American soldier. In Louisiana those may vote who can read or write, or who own property assessed at $300, or whose ancestors voted before 1867. Georgia permits veterans and their descendants to vote, limiting the suffrage for others to those who can read or understand the Constitution or own taxable property worth $500. The clauses in five of these constitutions that really exempt whites from the disabilities which are supposed to be the same for all, are called "grandfather clauses." The United States courts have refused to consider cases which might force them to declare whether these provisions are contrary to the Fifteenth Amendment. Congressmen and presidential electors are chosen by those persons in the different States who are allowed to vote for members of the state legislature. Votes cast and counted, 13,961,566| Persons qualified to vote 19,850,000 How VOTERS STAYED AWAY FROM THE POLLS (1900) 1 31. Historical Changes in the Suffrage. The suffrage requirements of to-day are the result of a gradual evolution extending over nearly three centuries. For our purpose, it will be sufficient to notice the general characteristics of three periods in our history. (1) The first includes the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, during which the right to vote was greatly restricted. As a rule, no man was permitted. to share in the election of public officials unless he was a Protestant who owned real estate. In the North, land of a certain value was required; in the South, a freehold of a certain size. (2) During the first half of the nineteenth century, these property qualifications were rapidly replaced 1 Deducting five per cent from male population over twenty-one, to allow for persons disqualified for various reasons. States, V, by a taxpayers' qualification, and later by one demanding McMaster, that citizenship should be the sole requirement for electors. United Many of the Western States went much further, and gave 380-394. the ballot to those aliens also who had declared their intention of becoming citizens. The national government aided in this movement for the extension of the franchise, by proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which in 1870 gave the negroes the same voting rights as the whites. (3) Since 1870 great progress Since 1870. has been made in placing the suffrage upon a safer basis. The list of persons disqualified because intellectually or Oberholtotherwise incompetent grows constantly longer, an especial zer, Refereffort being made in the South to exclude the least-fitted America, blacks without violating the national Constitution. At the 120-125. same time, discriminations regarding sex are becoming less pronounced, the standards for women when they are allowed to vote being the same as those for men. endum in districts. Hart, Ac 32. Elections from Districts. — Practically all of our law- Form and making bodies are made up of representatives chosen for use of short terms from districts into which the States, counties, and cities are divided. In these cases the real basis of representation is population, provision being made usually tual Gov't, §§ 36, 105. for reapportionment of members and redivision of districts every ten years, following the national census or special Dealey, J. Q, state censuses. It is supposed that the districts used for the same elections are nearly equal in population, and are contiguous and often compact, but it is not always easy to make them so. in Annals Am. Acad., 29 (1907), Mar. Sup., 70-82. There is always great danger that a partisan legislature Gerrymanwhich has the right to redistrict a state, shall rearrange the dering. districts for its own benefit, in spite of the laws requiring the districts to be equal in population and to be contiguous or even compact. This practice is called "gerrymandering"; and, if permitted, may thwart the popular will by electing, through the gerrymandered districts, a legislature which does not represent the majority. A usual method in gerry Pol. Parties and Problems, 275282. Woodburn, mandering is to unite as many strong opposition counties as possible in one district, thus allowing the party in power to elect its representatives from surrounding districts by fair pluralities. Good historical examples of gerrymandered districts are the odd-shaped Massachusetts district, in connection with which the name 66 gerrymander" was first used nearly a century ago, and the famous "shoestring" district in Mississippi of more recent date. Object and difficulties. of Social 33. Proportional Representation. It is believed by many students of political affairs that the evils of gerrymandering, and those of unequal representation as well, can be Hart, Actual avoided by some form of proportional representation. By Gov't, § 38. having the districts sufficiently large so that many representatives are chosen from each district, each party can elect New Encyc. from this district a number of representatives in proportion to the vote cast for its ticket. If the plan can be made to work, a much more just representation of parties in the legislatures will be the result. The chief obstacle to the adoption of proportional representation seems to be the strong attachment of Americans to the practice of electing from a single district one legislator who is a resident of that district-a practice which, in the opinion of a very high authority upon the American government, is a chief cause of the defects of our legislative bodies.1 Reform, 975-978. Illinois system. Dangers arising from fraud and bribery. Illinois is the only State that has made adequate trial of proportional representation for state offices. There are fifty-one senatorial districts in each of which one senator and three representatives are chosen. Every voter may cast one ballot for a state senator and three for representatives, casting all three for one person, or for different ones, as he prefers. The districts are, however, too small to afford a fair test of the merits of the system. 34. Efforts made to guard the Purity of Elections. In popular governments like ours, anything that prevents the people from voting and electing as public officials the 1 Mr. James Bryce, the English statesman; see the American Common. wealth, abridged ed.. pp. 133-146, 334-336. reasons, persons whom they wish, is a serious misfortune. If any Hart, Actual McCook, acts. Among the means used to prevent bribery of voters, es- Corrupt pecially prominent are the "corrupt practices acts," which practices require the different candidates to file with the state secretaries of state or county clerks after election, a complete Fuller, Gov't statement of all money they have expended. Some party by People, committees voluntarily publish reports of their receipts and expenditures, because of the popular opposition to the abuses of an earlier day. 35. Responsibility and Removal of Elected Officials. - All popular governments should provide adequate means not only for the full and free expression of the popular wishes in elections, but for enforcing a proper amount of responsibility among public officials. The chief dependence in times past has been on short terms and frequent elections. These have acted as a check on prolonged abuse of powers, giving the people opportunity to replace inefficient or unworthy public servants. 138-162. Checks in elections. law breakers. Laws exist for the national government and in most of Removal of the States which provide for the removal of officials guilty of open bribery or other forms of corruption. That these |