porary chairman is chosen and several committees are appointed, each consisting of one member from each State selected by that State's delegation. One of these learns The what delegates have been elected to the convention and platform. another drafts a platform. After the committee on credentials

has made its report, the convention must decide which of Low, A. M. It then protwo contesting delegations was duly elected.

in Scribner's, 27

ceeds to hear the report of the Committee of Resolutions. (1900), Radical changes in the platform proposed by the committee 646-649. are unusual, but at times, as in the consideration of the free silver plank in the Democratic convention in 1896, the debate has been keen and the speakers eloquent.

II, Ch. LXX

When the convention has adopted a platform setting Nominaforth the principles of the party, the roll of the States is tions. Balloting. called, and nominations are then in order. Even when there is no doubt about which presidential candidate will be chosen, favorite sons of the different States are often nomi- Bryce, Am. nated, and receive complimentary votes on the first ballot. Commonwealth, Ordinarily, from five to ten contestants enter the field for the prize, each of whom is nominated in laudatory speeches followed by prolonged applause. The nominations having been closed, the roll of the States is called again, and the chairman of each delegation announces its vote. If any man receives a majority vote or a two-thirds vote in the Democratic convention — one of the managers for a defeated candidate immediately moves the nomination be made unanimous. This is almost invariably done. Usually several ballots are taken, and at times the voting is very much prolonged, as in the Whig convention of 1852, in which fiftythree ballots were necessary, or in the Republican convention of 1880, which nominated James A. Garfield on the thirty-sixth ballot. Occasionally, on the other hand, candidates are nominated by acclamation without going through the customary forms.

After selecting the candidate for President, the convention proceeds to choose a nominee for Vice President. As the

Selecting a vice-presidential

candidate.

Constitu

tional or practical qualifications.

Constitution, Art. II, § 1, cl. 4.

position is one of more honor than power, it is not often desired by men of the greatest ability. It is given usually to a leader of some minor faction of the party, or to a politician whose State is located some distance from that of the presidential nominee. In either case it would give strength to the "ticket." Unsuccessful candidates for the presidential nomination are rarely or never chosen.

318. The Qualifications of Candidates.-There are two classes of qualifications required of every candidate nominated for the presidency: the first constitutional, the second practical. (1) The Constitution does not allow any person to hold the office of President or Vice President, unless he is a native-born American at least thirty-five years of age, and has been a resident within the United States fourteen years. The two officials are expected also to be citizens of different States. (2) The convention, while not ignoring these qualifications, pays much more attention to the availability of a candidate, selecting the man who will be most likely to win. On this account, statesmen Bryce, Am. whose long public service may have been of great value, but who have made enemies, are obliged to give place to newer men whose careers are less well known, and, therefore, less subject to attack. Candidates have, in fact, been selected chiefly because they stood the best chance of carrying some doubtful State, so that frequently considerations which should be of minor importance play a great part in the nomination. Whenever a convention fails to select a candidate at first, the coveted honor frequently goes to some one who had scarcely been mentioned for the place to a "dark horse," as such an eleventh-hour candidate is called.

Common

wealth,

abr. ed., 58-63.

Wilson,

Cong. Gov't,

246-254.

The campaign.

Common

319. Campaign and Election. After the candidates for the presidency have been notified of their nomination, and have sent in their letters of acceptance defining their posiBryce, Am. tion upon public questions, the campaign may be said to have begun. Its close is marked only by the November election, interest and excitement constantly growing until the result is known. During these three or four months, business becomes less active, and each party organizes its forces as carefully as possible. The great burden of the campaign is borne by the permanent committees of the political par

wealth, II, Ch. LXXI.

ties, which form campaign clubs, collect funds, hold mass meetings, and distribute an immense amount of partisan literature, supplementing this with active personal work among the doubtful voters (§ 38).

dential

Hart,

On the Tuesday after the first Monday of November in Choosing each leap year, the voters go to the polls and cast their the presiballots, not for the candidates for President and Vice Presi- electors. dent, but for electors who will later vote for these persons. Each State is entitled to as many electors in the "college" which elects the President as it has senators and represent atives in Congress. Each party has accordingly selected the requisite number of electors, and has placed their names upon the official ballot (§ 29).

Gov't, 61-66.

Essays on

electoral votes.

As a matter of course, all voters will vote "straight" tickets, that Divided is, for the electors of one party only, but, as accidents will happen, the total vote for the different electors of any party is never exactly the same. In consequence, if the vote of a State is about equally divided between two parties, some electors of one may be chosen with those of the other. For example, if there are twelve electors from the State in the "college," the twelve electors who receive the greatest number of votes are chosen, whether all of them belong to one party or not.

may be chosen.

As there is no national suffrage law, persons can vote in some States How who would not be allowed to do so in others. In fact, there is nothing electors in the United States Constitution to prevent a State's leaving the appointment of its electors to the legislature, as all of them did formerly. Or two electors at large may be chosen from the whole State, while the others are elected in the different congressional districts. It is well to bear in mind, however, that at present custom and public opinion make popular election of electors compulsory, and that the United States Constitution by the Fifteenth Amendment does not permit a State to abridge the right of citizens of the United States to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

320. The Work of the Electoral College. — The actual election of the President and Vice President occurs on the second Monday in the January following a "presidential election." On that day the electors who were chosen in November meet at their respective state capitals, and vote for the candidates of the party which they represent. A certified copy of these electoral votes is forwarded by mail, and

Casting and counting

the ballots.