Under the U.S. Constitution the right to hold elections is specified, but the method and place are left to the states, with Congress having the power to alter their regulations. The Constitution specified that elections to the House of Representatives be direct, or popular, and that the election of the Senate and of the President and Vice President be indirect, Senators being chosen by the state legislatures and the President and Vice President by electors selected by the people. Political candidates are usually chosen by delegate convention, direct primary, nonpartisan primaries, or petition. Voting frauds and disorder at the polls were common after the rise of political machines, and the enactment of registration laws after 1865 did little to ameliorate conditions. Corrupt practices acts, poll watching, the institution of primary elections, and the introduction of voting machines after 1892 have been more effective in ensuring honest elections.
All states have some residency requirements as a condition for suffrage.
Certain classes of felons and some others are deprived of the vote. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.