Federal Elections

The topic for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.4.1: "It will be up to the legislature of each state to determine the time, places, and manner in which elections shall be held for federal offices, but the Congress may at any time pass a law to alter such arrangements. An exception was made as to the places of choosing Senators, since they were originally chosen by the state legislatures." This principle provides Rights to both the states and the Congress. States have the Right to schedule elections for federal office, but Congress has the Right to intervene when required by circumstances.

Congress did not act on this provision from 1787 when the Constitution was written until 1842. Congress decided to intervene in 1842 because inequities had developed. Congress decided that states should be divided into congressional districts with one representative elected by the people in that specific district rather than all representatives being elected by the people of the entire state.

Congress intervened again in 1866 to force state legislatures to meet on a specific day to elect Senators to represent them. State legislatures were required to stay in session until they reached a consensus on their Senators.

Congress declared in 1872 that all states would hold their general election on the same day. They selected the Tuesday following the first Monday in November to be the day for all general elections.

In 1899 Congress decided that the use of voting machines was legally acceptable. The Nineteenth Amendment provided that women could vote in general elections, and the Twenty-Sixth Amendment provided that all those eighteen years and older could vote in federal elections.

Because of corruption in state elections, Congress passed bills to make it a federal crime for anyone to vote in a federal election if that person was guilty of false registration, bribery, voting without legal right, intimidation of other voters, interfering with election officials, or making a false report of votes cast.