Kitabı oku: «Government in the United States, National, State and Local», sayfa 9

Voting Machines.– A few states have adopted voting machines, especially for their large cities. These are so arranged that the voter may, by going into a booth and pulling a number of knobs, register his vote quickly and without the danger of spoiling his ballot. When the polls are closed the results are already recorded on a dial, and the long delay in counting the returns is eliminated. The chief objection to the voting machine, however, is the expense, and this has prevented its more general adoption.

Formalities of Voting.– When the voter presents himself at the polls²¹ he must announce his name and address to the election officials. If his name is found on the registration list, he is given a ballot and his name entered on the poll book. He then enters a booth, where he marks his ballot, for which purpose he is allowed to remain therein not exceeding a certain length of time. He must not mark his ballot in such a way that it can be identified after it has been placed in the ballot box, and no erasures are allowed. If he spoils his ballot he will be given another, and if he is physically unable to mark it, or if, in some states, he is illiterate, he will be allowed the assistance of two persons representing different political parties. His right to vote may be challenged, in which case he will be required to identify himself or "swear in" his ballot, a record of which must be duly kept. When he has marked his ballot he must fold it in such a manner as to conceal its face, and hand it to one of the election judges, who announces the name of the voter; the fact of his voting is recorded, and the ballot placed in the box.

At a certain hour prescribed by law the polls are closed, after which the votes are counted; and when this task is complete the returns are announced. Generally the ballots must be preserved for several months in order that an opportunity may be offered for a recount in case the election is contested. Usually the ballots cannot be reopened and recounted except by order of a court or of the committee on elections of the legislature.

Legislation Against Fraudulent Voting; Corrupt Practices Acts.– For a long time in this country there was little legislation designed to regulate the conduct of elections and to protect the exercise of the electoral privilege against fraud. The principal evils of the old system were: lack of secrecy in voting; the use of separate ballots printed by the candidates or their party organizations; the distribution of these ballots before election day; lack of means for identifying the voters; bribery, intimidation, treating, and the use of other objectionable means for influencing voters; "repeating"; ballot box "stuffing"; and the like. To eliminate or diminish these and other evils, practically all the states have passed laws of one kind or another. They are generally known as corrupt practices acts and are, for the most part, based on the English law of 1883. Much of this legislation is detailed and complex, and some of it is still in the experimental stage.

The corrupt use of money in elections has come to be one of the greatest political evils of our time. The buying of votes is a very common practice in some communities, and unfortunately is not as strongly condemned by public opinion as it should be. Some 50 per cent of the voters in one county of Ohio were disfranchised by the court for selling their votes in the general election of 1910. The growth of great corporations, many of which desire legislation in their interest, or immunity from unfavorable laws, has introduced a more or less corrupting element in our political life. Some states have enacted laws forbidding corporations, under heavy penalties, from making contributions to the campaign funds of political parties. Others have forbidden the practice of political committees of assessing office holders for campaign purposes. Some have gone to the length of forbidding "treating" and other similar means of influencing voters. Some limit the amount of money that may be spent by a candidate or his friends in the conduct of his campaign, usually specifying the purposes for which expenditures may be made. Thus the Connecticut and New York laws allow expenditures only for such matters as the rent of halls, compensation of speakers and musicians, fireworks, printing, lithographs, advertisements, traveling expenses, postage, telegrams, hiring of carriages to take voters to the polls, and the like. A few, however, prohibit the hiring of carriages, and some forbid the giving away of liquor at elections. Some states require candidates to make sworn itemized statements of the expenditures incurred by them on account of the election, and some fix the maximum amount that may be expended. Thus in New York a candidate for governor may expend only $10,000 on account of his candidacy; candidates for other state officers are permitted to spend $6,000. The need of limitations was illustrated by the fact that the Democratic candidate for governor of New York in 1906 spent over $256,000 in the prosecution of his candidacy, and a candidate for state senator spent $30,000 to secure an election.²² A recent candidate for the United States senate in a Western state admitted that his aggregate expenses were $107,000, and another testified that he spent $115,000 in the effort to secure an election.

State Contributions to Party Campaign Funds.– In the belief that the state ought to bear a part of the candidate's expenses, to the end that the poor office seeker may be more nearly on an equal footing with the candidate of means, Colorado recently passed a law providing that the state should contribute to the campaign fund of each political party a sum of money equal in amount to twenty-five cents for every vote cast by the party for governor at the preceding election. The law allowed the candidates themselves to spend their own money to aid in their election, but prohibited other persons or corporations from making contributions. In short, the expense was to be borne by the state and the candidate alone. This Colorado law, however, was declared unconstitutional by the state courts.

Other Restrictions.– In some states also the expenditures of party committees are limited, and such committees are required to make sworn statements of their expenditures and the purposes for which they were made. Several states prohibit the payment by other persons of a voter's poll tax where the payment of such a tax is a condition to the voting privilege.

Everywhere there are laws against bribery, intimidation, fraudulent voting, and most of the other election offenses. More and more, public sentiment demands that elections shall be free from the taint of corruption, to the end that the results shall represent the real choice of the people and thus popular government made to be what its founders intended that it should be.

References.– Beard, American Government and Politics, pp. 453-457; also ch. xxiii. Fuller, Government by the People, chs. ii-vi, viii-xi. Garner, Introduction to Political Science, ch. xv. Hart, Actual Government, ch. iv.

Documentary and Illustrative Material.– 1. Legislative manual or blue book of the state. 2. The election laws of the state. 3. Copy of instructions to voters. 4. Specimen ballots.

Research Questions

1. What are the qualifications for voting in your state?

2. When were women first allowed to vote in your state?

3. Are there any offices in your state held by women?

4. How many voters are there in your state?

5. Is there a registration requirement?

6. Do you think the right to vote should be restricted to persons who are able to read and write?

7. Give the date on which state elections are held in your state; city elections; judicial elections. Why should national, state, and city elections be held on different dates?

8. Name some offices in your state now filled by popular election which in your opinion should be filled by appointment.

9. Who are the election officers in your county?

10. What is the usual location of the polling place in your ward or precinct?

11. Explain the difference between a "party column" and an "office column" ballot. Which type of ballot is used in your state? In case the former is used does it contain a party circle and a party symbol at the head of each column?

12. Procure a specimen ballot used at the last election and explain how to mark and cast it.

13. Are voting machines used in your state? If so, where?

14. Is there a law in your state against the improper use of money in elections? Does it specify the purposes for which campaign expenditures may be made? Are candidates required to make sworn statements of their election expenses? Are there any limitations on the amount a candidate is allowed to spend?

15. Do you think corporations should be prohibited from making contributions to the campaign funds of political parties?

CHAPTER VIII
POLITICAL PARTIES AND NOMINATING METHODS

Nature and Functions of Political Parties.– Political parties are organized by groups of voters for the purpose of promoting the success of the policies in which they believe, and in order to secure the nomination and election of public officials who are in sympathy with those policies. Men differ in their opinions on matters of government as they do on matters of religion, and hence they come to constitute well differentiated groups. Whenever such a group becomes large enough to prosecute a concerted policy and organizes itself for the purpose of furthering its views in governmental matters, it becomes a political party. A political party is, therefore, composed of voters who hold substantially the same opinions in regard to certain public questions or certain principles of government. It is a purely voluntary organization, however, and any voter may decline to ally himself with any party, or, having done so, may change to another party whenever he wishes, or he may unite with others of a like mind and form a new party. While men can probably further the cause of good government best by means of organization and concert of action, no citizen should think more of his party than he does of his country, and whenever the purposes of a political party are prostituted for other ends than the public good no voter should feel morally bound to continue his support of such a party.

National Parties.– Under a system of popular government where public policies are determined by the people and public officials are chosen by popular election, political parties are inevitable if not essential. Almost from the beginning, therefore, we have had political parties in this country, each believing in certain policies and each endeavoring to gain control of the government in order to carry out those policies. For the promotion of policies that are national in character, such as those relating to the tariff, the currency, or the foreign policy of the country, national parties have been formed with organizations extending throughout the entire country.

Local Parties.– For the most part the organization of the national parties extends downward through the states and their local subdivisions, and are made use of in local as well as in national elections. As the issues which divide the people in national elections, however, are not always the same as those which divide them in state and local elections, we sometimes have a realignment of parties in local contests, and sometimes new parties of a local character are organized. This, in fact, is to be desired for the reason that issues of a local character ought not to be determined with reference to the views of men on issues of a national character. It is wrong, for example, for Democrats and Republicans who agree upon the issues involved in a municipal election to oppose each other in such a contest merely because they do not agree on the expediency of a protective tariff or of a gold standard in money matters. In purely local elections national party lines should cut no figure; local issues should be judged wholly on their merits without reference to national questions.

Existing Political Parties in the United States.– At the present time there are two great political parties in the United States, the Democratic party and the Republican party, each with an organization extending to every part of the country, and together including the great majority of the voters.

The Democratic Party.– In a general way, we may say that the Democratic party is composed of men who believe that the sphere of the national government should not be extended beyond what a strict interpretation of the Federal Constitution warrants; that the rights of the states should be interfered with as little as possible; and that the activities of government, whether national, state, or local, should be kept down to a minimum so that the individual shall be allowed the largest measure of freedom consistent with the maintenance of order, peace, and security. This party has uniformly opposed a protective tariff, ship subsidies, imperialism, and the extension of the powers of the national government through "constructions" of the Constitution. On the money question the party has not always been united, though for the most part it has opposed the single gold standard and favored a bimetallic standard coupled with the free coinage of silver as well as of gold.

The Republican Party has contended for a liberal interpretation of the Federal Constitution, especially those parts relating to the powers of the national government, which it desires to see extended; it has shown less sympathy than the Democratic party for the rights of the states; it is the champion of the protective tariff, of internal improvements under federal auspices, of colonial expansion, liberal pensions for soldiers and sailors of the Civil War, of subventions for the merchant marine, negro suffrage, and of a gold monetary standard. From the accession of the Republican party to power in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln as President, down to 1913, it controlled the executive department of the national government continually with the exception of eight years when Grover Cleveland was President (1885-1889; 1893-1897). During most of that period it controlled Congress, though several times the Democratic party had a majority in one or the other house and occasionally for a short time it was in the majority in both houses.

Some state governments are controlled by one party, and some by the other. Since 1875 the Democratic party has usually been in power in nearly all of the Southern states, and the Republican party in more than half of the other states; but in some states control often shifts from one party to the other.

The Progressive Party was organized in 1912 mainly but not wholly by those members of the Republican party who felt that this party was not sufficiently progressive in its policies and that it attached rather too much importance to the interests of special classes and too little to the rights of the masses of the people. First of all, it advocated a larger social and industrial justice for men and women, especially the working classes. It favored national jurisdiction over such matters as cannot be effectively regulated by the states; public ownership of forests, coal and oil lands, and water power; and suffrage for women. At the election of 1912 the new party polled a total vote of 4,100,000 for its presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt; but a few years later the party went out of existence.

The Prohibition Party.– Besides the Democratic, Republican, and Progressive parties, there are several minor parties with organizations of a national character. The oldest of these is the Prohibition party, organized in 1872 to promote the movement for the abolition of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. Since its organization, it has regularly nominated candidates for President and Vice President of the United States, and in many states it nominates candidates for state offices and for the legislature. Not infrequently it has succeeded in electing some of its candidates to the legislature, and it has been instrumental in securing the enactment of local option laws and even state-wide prohibition laws in several states.

The Socialist Labor Party, organized in 1892, advocates government ownership of land, railways, telegraph lines, and other means of production and transportation. The Socialist Party, organized in 1904 mainly from the Socialist Labor party, advocates essentially the same views. At the election of 1912 it cast about 900,000 votes throughout the country, and in 1916 about 600,000. In 1919 a large section of the party, composed of radicals who advocate the Bolshevist régime of government by the working class, split off and formed the Communist Party.

Party Organization.– Political parties, like other associations which have ends to promote, must have organization. For the conduct of national campaigns, each of the parties has a national organization; for state purposes there is a state organization; and usually there are a county and a district organization. The characteristic feature of party organization is the use which is made of committees. The organization everywhere consists of a committee, at the head of which is a chairman, and which has also a treasurer and usually a secretary. The chairman is usually an experienced political leader; sometimes he is at the same time an office holder.

The Convention.– The policies of the party are formulated by a convention which is a representative gathering composed of delegates chosen directly by the members of the party or by local conventions. The national convention, to be described hereafter, is composed of a certain number of delegates from each state, while the state convention is composed of delegates chosen from the counties, the legislative districts, or other units. The county convention is composed of delegates from the districts into which the county is divided, and the city convention of delegates from the wards or precincts. This is the usual rule, but here and there are variations. The state convention formulates the principles of the party and sets them forth in a document called the platform; it nominates the candidates of the party, except in those states where they are nominated by a direct primary; and it appoints the central committee, selects the chairman, and transacts such other business as may come before it. It is, in short, the supreme sovereign authority of the party in the state. It is usually a large body, sometimes comprising 1,000 or more delegates, and in Massachusetts as many as 2,000.

Committees.– The committee is a select body for carrying on the campaign and attending to such other matters as may be intrusted to it. The national committee is composed of one member from each state; the state committee, usually of delegates from the counties or legislative districts. The New York Republican state committee is composed of one delegate from each congressional district in the state, while the Democratic committee consists of one delegate from each of the fifty-one senatorial districts of the state. Similarly, the county committee is made up of delegates representing the political units into which the county is divided, towns, precincts, etc. Sometimes the county committee is a very large and representative body. The Republican committee of New York county is made up of about 700 delegates, each delegate representing 200 Republican voters in the county.

In the cities, there is not only the general city committee, but also a local committee for each ward or precinct. These ward committees come into close relation with the voters, and the success of the party depends to a large degree upon their activity.

Primaries.– As soon as political parties were definitely formed it became necessary to devise some sort of machinery for selecting the candidates which the party desired to put forward. In the beginning candidates for local offices were presented to the voters upon their own announcement or by a caucus (an informal meeting of the leading men of the party) or a primary (a mass meeting of the members of the party). In time the caucus, except as a means of selecting candidates for offices in legislative bodies, fell into disrepute, and the method of nomination by a convention composed of delegates representing the party became the accepted method. The delegates are chosen by the members of the party at an election called a primary, so called because it is the first or original meeting of the party voters in the process of choosing public officials.

Former Lack of State Control.– The calling of the primary, the manner of conducting it, and the fixing of the party test, that is, the determination of who may take part in the primary, are matters which for a long time were regulated by each party according to its own notions, without interference upon the part of the state. In short, it was assumed that the state had no interest in the manner in which political parties nominated their candidates, and it therefore kept its hands off. The control of the primaries, particularly in the more populous centers, fell into the hands of a small number of political leaders, or "bosses," who virtually dictated the nominations. Sometimes the primaries were held at times or places unknown to the bulk of the members of the party, or at inaccessible places, or in rooms inadequate to accommodate the mass of the voters. They were sometimes packed with henchmen of certain candidates; sometimes large numbers of the voters were kept away by "sluggers" or were intimidated by domineering leaders; sometimes the qualifications for participating in the primary were fixed in such a manner as to exclude the great mass of the voters. Men of other parties were sometimes brought in to aid in effecting the nomination of particular candidates, ballot boxes were "stuffed" or other frauds committed, and often the votes were fraudulently counted. In short, the abuses became so intolerable as to create a widespread demand for the regulation of primaries by law so that the results might more truly represent the real opinions of the members of the party.

State Regulation of Primaries.– Accordingly, one state after another began to pass laws regulating the holding of primaries, on the ground that the state was as much interested in the nomination of candidates as it was in the election of those nominated, for it was obvious that unless nominations were fairly made and unless the candidates selected really represented the free choice of the people, popular government would be at an end, since in many communities a nomination was equivalent to an election. At first, the laws enacted by the states for the regulation of primary elections were simple, and were designed to prevent only a few of the worst abuses that had grown up. They usually applied only to the large cities, and in many cases they were optional in character, that is, they applied only to such communities as chose to conduct their primaries in accordance with the laws thus passed. Beginning about 1890, however, the legislatures here and there began to enact state-wide primary laws which were mandatory upon all localities and all parties, and applied to nominations for the great bulk of the offices filled by popular election.

Existing Primary Laws.– At present nearly every state has a law regulating in some way the holding of primary elections. In general, these laws apply to every organized political party that cast at least a certain number of votes at the preceding election; and they provide that the primaries of all such parties shall be held on the same day (in some states at the same polling places, and by the same officials that hold the regular elections), and in accordance with the rules and safeguards governing the regular elections. They fix the date on which the primaries shall be held and require that due notice shall be given thereof; they prescribe the manner of nominating delegates (and such candidates for public office as are chosen directly by the primaries); they provide for the use of official ballots printed at public expense; they contain provisions in regard to the organization and powers of the party committees, and in general they regulate everything relating to the conduct of the primaries that would be a subject of regulation if they were regular elections.

The Party Test.– One of the most difficult problems in the enactment of legislation concerning the primary election is how to prescribe fairly the qualifications that must be possessed by those who shall be allowed to participate in the primary. It is often embarrassing and disagreeable for a voter when he appears at the polls to cast his vote to be compelled to reveal his party affiliation, yet unless he is required to do so, the adherents of one party might easily participate in the primary of another with a view to bringing about the nomination of its weakest candidates. Thus in a Western city some years ago where the primary law did not require a declaration of party affiliation, a large number of the members of one party entered the primary of the opposite party and brought about the nomination of their weakest candidate for mayor, and thus at the regular election the party to which the "invaders" belonged was easily able to defeat him with its own candidate. An "open" primary is open to any and all voters. Most primary laws, however, insist upon a statement by the voter of his party affiliation as a condition to participation in the primary, which is therefore called a "closed" primary. Usually the test of membership is that the voter must have affiliated with the party at the last election, and sometimes he must pledge himself to support at the coming election the candidates nominated at the primary of the party in which he participates.

As a closed primary is an election by the members of a political party, independents, or those who are not adherents of any party, are not allowed to participate. This discourages reform movements by independent voters, but there seems to be no way to remedy the matter. Sometimes an exception is made in the primaries for the nomination of candidates for city offices, on the ground that party lines should not be strictly drawn in local contests and that independent movements should be encouraged.

Nominations by Conventions.– Before the introduction of the method of nominating candidates by the direct primary, to be described hereafter, the universal method of nomination was by convention, and this is still the prevailing method in many states.

Preliminary Organization of a Convention.– The convention, as previously stated, is composed of delegates chosen at a primary election. The date and place of holding the convention are announced by the party committee some weeks in advance. It is called to order by the chairman of the committee, after which a temporary chairman of the convention is elected, and not infrequently a spirited contest takes place over the election, especially when there is likely to be a struggle for the nomination of the principal officers which the convention has been called to nominate. The temporary chairman, upon taking the chair, usually delivers an address in which he extols the party for its achievements in the past, after which usually four committees are appointed: one on organization, one on rules, one on resolutions, and one on credentials.

Convention Committees.– Frequently rival delegations appear from some county or district, and the convention must decide which one is entitled to seats. Questions of this kind are referred to the committee on credentials, which, after hearing both sides, reports to the convention recommending which delegation shall be seated, and the recommendation of the committee usually, though not always, is approved. Sometimes, however, both contesting delegations are seated, each delegate being allowed half a vote.

The committee on rules frames the rules of procedure by which the business of the convention is to be transacted; its report is usually adopted without alteration.

The committee on permanent organization proposes the names of candidates for permanent chairman, secretary, and such other officers of the convention as may be needed. The officers suggested by this committee are usually elected, though sometimes the convention elects a different ticket.

The chairman of the committee on resolutions presents a draft of the platform, which is adopted by the convention, usually, though not always, without change.

The Nominations.– The convention is now ready for the chief business for which it was called, namely, the nomination of candidates which the party desires to put forward for the offices to be filled at the coming election. The names of the candidates are usually presented to the convention in highly eulogistic speeches, and the nominations are generally seconded by one or more delegates. The balloting then proceeds until the nominations are all made. Sometimes where more than two candidates are placed in nomination no one of them is able to secure a majority, and a "deadlock" ensues, lasting maybe for days or even weeks, and terminated by the nomination of a "dark horse."

Objections to the Convention Method.– When deadlocks occur, the "dark horse" chosen is likely to be an inferior candidate. Another objection to the method of nomination by convention is that the nominations are frequently determined by a small number of leaders or "bosses" who control the convention, and thus the nominations do not represent the choice of the party. How a convention may be thus controlled by a few politicians is thus stated by a careful writer who is fully conversant with party methods:²³

"The program of the convention, in practice, is almost always decided upon down to the minutest detail, before the convention meets. The party leader, or 'boss,' and his lieutenants discuss the relative claims of candidates and decide who shall be nominated. The party platform is written and submitted to the 'boss' for his approval. The officers of the convention are agreed upon and their speeches revised. All this is outside the law, which ignores the existence of the party leader and assumes that the delegates are free to exercise their own judgment. The real interest in the convention is usually centered in the secret conferences of the leaders which precede it and in which the contests over the nominations are fought out, sometimes with much stubbornness. The 'slate' is finally made up by agreement between leaders who control a majority of the delegates in the convention. The leaders of the minority may either surrender or they may register their protest by presenting the names of other candidates in the convention with the certainty of defeat, for it is rare in state conventions that there is so equal a division of strength as to leave the result in doubt.

"While the leaders are settling what the convention is to do, the delegates are left to their own devices, ignorant of what is going on in the 'headquarters' where the leaders are assembled. They are not consulted and their advice is not asked. It often happens that they do not know whom they are to nominate until they hear for the first time in the convention hall the names of the candidates agreed upon by the leaders. Although the law gives them the right to bring forward the names of other candidates, they seldom exercise it, and the delegate bold enough to disobey orders is regarded with disapproval."

Nomination by the People: the Direct Primary.– About 1889, because of growing dissatisfaction with the convention system, some of the states began to experiment with the method of popular nomination, that is, direct nomination by the primary instead of by convention. Instead of calling on the voters to choose delegates to a convention to which the task of nomination was intrusted, they were now called upon to vote directly for the candidates themselves. It was said that if the voters were competent to choose delegates to a convention they were equally competent to select the candidates themselves. The movement for the direct primary, as it was called, spread rapidly particularly in the South and West. Thus the convention has been done away with in a large number of states except where it is still retained to frame platforms, appoint the central committee, and select delegates to the national convention, and in some states it has been abolished even for these purposes, other means having been provided for taking care of these matters.