U.S.
Constitutional Provisions
Article
I, Section 2:
States
Determine Qualifications to Vote
" The
House of Representatives shall be composed of Members
chosen every second Year by the People of the several
States, and the Electors in each State shall have the
Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous
Branch of the State Legislature."
Article
I, Section 4:
States
Conduct Congressional Elections
" The
Times , Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators
and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State
by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any
time by law make or alter such Regulations, except as
to the Places of chusing Senators."
U.S.
Senators were originally chosen by their respective State
Legislatures until the passage in 1913 of the 17th Amendment
which provides for the direct popular election of Senators.
Article
II, Section 1:
States
Conduct Presidential Elections
This
section establishes the right of the States to appoint
Electors to the Electoral College. It reads, in part:
"Each
State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature
thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the
whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which
the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator
or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust
or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed
an Elector."
and
later:
"The
Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors,
and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which
Day shall be the same throughout the United States."
The
clause separating these two paragraphs describes the
original manner in which presidential Electors were to
cast their votes for President and Vice President - a
procedure which was slightly altered in 1804 by the passage
of the 12th Amendment.
There
is nothing in the Constitution - or for that matter
in federal statute - that requires States to conduct
a direct popular vote for President (or for presidential
Electors). The manner of choosing presidential Electors
remains a matter for each State, although all States
since 1860 have employed the direct popular vote for
presidential Electors. Before that, however, several
States chose their Electors by a vote of their State
Legislature rather than by popular vote.
The
15th Amendment (1870)
Eliminating
Racial Barriers
" The
right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude."
The
19th Amendment (1920)
Eliminating
Sexual Barriers
"The
right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of sex."
The
24th Amendment (1964)
Eliminating
Poll Taxes
"The
right of citizens of the United States to vote in any
primary or other election for President or Vice President,
for electors for President or Vice President, or for
Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or any State by reason
of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."
The
Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, extends the prohibition
on poll taxes to cover all elections by virtue of the
14th, 15th and 24th Amendments to the Constitution (see
also Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections 383
U.S. 663, 86 S.Ct. 1079, 16 L.Ed. 2d. 169 (1966)).
The
26th Amendment (1971)
18
Year-old Vote
"The
right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen
years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account
of age." |
