Elections and Voting

Why Elections Matter

Elections put popular sovereignty and consent of the governed into practice. They let citizens:

• choose who will make and carry out the laws;
• hold officials accountable by re-electing or removing them peacefully;
• signal policy preferences, through referendums and initiatives in many states;
• transfer power peacefully. The 1800 election, when power passed from John Adams's Federalists to Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans, set an early precedent.

Regular, free, and fair elections separate a republic from a dictatorship. That is why the Constitution fixes terms of office: 2 years for House members, 6 years for senators, and 4 years for the president.

Who Runs Elections?

The United States has no single national election agency that runs voting. Article I, Section 4 (the Elections Clause) gives each state legislature power to set "the Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives." Congress may also "make or alter such Regulations." In practice:

• States set voter registration rules, design ballots, set early-voting and mail-ballot rules, and certify results. In Florida, the Secretary of State is the chief election officer. Each county's elected Supervisor of Elections runs voting locally.
• Congress sets the national Election Day for federal offices: the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. It has also passed laws such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 ("Motor Voter").
• Constitutional amendments limit what states may do. States cannot deny the vote because of race (15th), sex (19th), failure to pay a poll tax in federal elections (24th), or age for those 18 or older (26th).

Voter qualifications

To vote in federal elections, a person must be a U.S. citizen and at least 18 years old by Election Day. Most states, including Florida, also require registration in advance and residency in the state. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and property requirements are not permitted.

Types of Elections

• Primary election: voters choose each party's nominee. In a closed primary, as in Florida, only voters registered in that party may vote for its candidates. In an open primary, any voter may choose either party's ballot. Florida has a "universal primary" exception: if all candidates for an office are of the same party and the winner will face no opposition in November, all voters may vote in that primary.
• Caucus: party members meet in person to discuss and choose candidates. Some states use caucuses instead of primaries in presidential nomination contests.
• General election: voters choose among the parties' nominees and others to fill the office.
• Special election: held to fill a vacancy, such as after a House member resigns or dies. The 17th Amendment lets governors call special elections for Senate vacancies; legislatures may let governors make temporary appointments.
• Runoff: held when no candidate gets a required share of the vote.
• Referendum and initiative: voters decide a policy question directly. In Florida, proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot need 60% approval.
• Recall: voters remove an official before the term ends. Available in some states for some offices.

Presidential campaigns proceed in stages. First come the primaries and caucuses. Each party's national convention then formally nominates its ticket. The general election follows in November, and the Electoral College votes in December.

The Electoral College

Americans do not elect the president by a direct national popular vote. Under Article II and the Twelfth Amendment, each state appoints electors who cast the votes that formally choose the president and vice president.

• Each state gets electors equal to its total number of U.S. representatives plus senators. The Twenty-Third Amendment (1961) gives the District of Columbia electors as if it were a state, but no more than the least populous state (3).
• There are 538 electors in total: 435 + 100 + 3. A candidate needs a majority, 270, to win.
• Nearly all states award all their electors to the statewide popular-vote winner ("winner-take-all"). Maine and Nebraska award some electors by congressional district.
• If no candidate wins a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the president, with each state delegation casting one vote. The Senate chooses the vice president. The House decided the elections of 1800 (before the 12th Amendment) and 1824.

Why the Framers created it

The Constitutional Convention considered having Congress choose the president, but that would undermine separation of powers. It also considered a direct popular vote, which raised concerns about a large country with limited communication and about the balance between large and small states. The Electoral College was a compromise. It reflects federalism, because presidents are chosen state by state, and it gives smaller states somewhat greater weight because every state has two senators.

Debates

Five times a candidate has won the presidency while losing the national popular vote: 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. Supporters say the system protects federalism and forces broad, state-by-state coalitions. Critics argue it lets a minority of voters choose the president and concentrates campaigns in "swing states." Changing it would require a constitutional amendment.

The Census, Apportionment, and Districts

Article I requires an "actual Enumeration," a census, every ten years. The census determines apportionment, how the 435 House seats are divided among the states. (Congress fixed the number at 435 by law in 1929.) Every state gets at least one representative. States that grow faster gain seats; states that grow slower may lose them.

The original Constitution counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for apportionment. The Fourteenth Amendment replaced that rule with "the whole number of persons in each State."

Redistricting and gerrymandering

After each census, states redraw congressional and state legislative district lines. In Florida, the Legislature does this. Districts must have roughly equal population. That is the "one person, one vote" principle that grew out of Baker v. Carr (1962) and was applied in Reynolds v. Sims (1964) and Wesberry v. Sanders (1964).

Gerrymandering is drawing district lines to favor a party or group. The term comes from Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry, who signed an 1812 map with a salamander-shaped district. Racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional. In Rucho v. Common Cause (2019), the Supreme Court held that partisan-gerrymandering claims are political questions that federal courts cannot decide. Some state constitutions, including Florida's "Fair Districts" amendments of 2010, limit partisan line drawing.

The Expansion of Voting Rights

In 1789, the states decided who could vote, and most limited voting to white men who owned property. Over two centuries the electorate grew through amendments, laws, and court decisions:

The civil rights movement drove the 1965 law. The 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, where marchers were beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on "Bloody Sunday," built public support. In Shelby County v. Holder (2013), the Court struck down the formula used to decide which jurisdictions needed federal preclearance.

Campaigns, Parties, and Campaign Finance

The Constitution does not mention political parties. George Washington warned against "the spirit of party" in his Farewell Address (1796). Parties formed anyway, beginning with the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans in the 1790s. Today two major parties, Democrats and Republicans, dominate, partly because most offices are won by whoever gets the most votes in a single-member district.

Parties recruit candidates, organize primaries, mobilize voters, and organize government; the majority party controls each chamber of Congress. Interest groups and political action committees (PACs) try to influence policy and elections.

Money and speech

Federal law limits how much individuals may give directly to candidates and requires disclosure of contributions. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforces these rules. In Citizens United v. FEC (2010), the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment bars the government from limiting independent political spending by corporations and unions. The decision led to "super PACs," which may raise and spend unlimited sums as long as they do not coordinate with candidates.