Elections

One of the possible ways of selecting government officials is through an election (from the Latin electus, meaning choice). In ancient Athens, where democracy and majority rule began, citizens were allowed to vote for public officials, although some element of chance was often introduced to allow the gods to influence the outcome. In a sense, an election or a vote in which the majority of the votes cast determines a policy or a political leader can be viewed as a substitute for a physical fight in which the strongest side wins and enforces its will on the losers. In a democracy, elections determine rulers and political policy by “ballots, not bullets,” as the saying goes.

Fair, honest, regular, and open elections by secret ballot for political leaders are the hallmark of a true constitutional democracy, although most modern [Page p155]democracies also have some indirect election provisions—such as the electoral college used for election of the U.S.. president and vice president and the election of most prime ministers by the members of parliament—and some appointive offices. “As it is essential to liberty that the government in general should have a common interest with the people,” commented James Madison in essay 52 of The Federalist (1787–88) (See Federalist Papers), “so it is particularly essential that the branch of it under consideration [the House of Representatives] should have an immediate dependence on, and an intimate sympathy with, the people. Frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured.” In a constitutional monarchy, the head of state is not elected but is chosen generally under a constitutional act of succession based on heredity or in some cases by a constitutional body that selects from persons of a certain lineage.

The Constitution contains a number of provisions regarding the election of representatives, senators, and the president and vice president. In addition, a number of constitutional amendments address the right to vote. The Fifteenth Amendment (1870), for one, prohibits the United States or any state from denying the right to vote to any person on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude (See Slavery). The Nineteenth Amendment (1920) grants women the right to vote. The Twenty-third Amendment (1961) extends the right to vote for president and vice president to the citizens of the District of Columbia (See Capital, National). The Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) bars a poll tax, and the Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971) lowers the voting age to eighteen years.

The Constitution requires that the federal and state governments share the responsibilities associated with national elections, and to a large extent states bear most of this burden. States and their counties are responsible for voter registration, operation of polling stations, vote counting, and certification of the results. State laws, as long as they are constitutional, determine the qualifications for voting in the general election and the primaries usually held by political parties. The federal government's role involves regulating campaign financing of federal elections and some state and local campaign fund raising, enforcement of the right to vote, setting the time for federal elections, and determining the winners of contested or challenged presidential, House, and Senate elections. In Foster v. Love (1997), the Supreme Court said that the election clause in Article I, section 4, “invests the States with responsibility for the mechanics of congressional elections, but only insofar as Congress declines to preempt state legislative choices.”

...