The Evolution of Voting in the USA
In 2023, the average age of a US citizen was 38.9 years. For perspective, that means that more than half of the population of US citizens was born after 1984! The mass production of cell phones, as cumbersome as they were, began in 1983, and personal computers started to become available to the broader public in the late 1970’s. Apple, Tandy (Radio Shack), and the Commodore were the pioneers. With those benchmarks in mind, it is easy to understand that the great majority of voters over the last four decades have only experienced the modern voting apparatus…mechanical machines, computerized equipment, and the like. In addition, the concept of an Election Day has been lost due to the multiple options for early voting, mail-in voting, and absentee voting in all the various forms that those concepts are employed in the various states. The interest in voting has taken on a significance that seems to have increased over the last several election cycles based upon the notion that all kinds of chicanery can occur, which results in election fraud. True or not, many states have passed legislation that claims to be focused on preventing voter fraud, and, at the same time, many organizations, including the ABA, have undertaken major voter education projects to help overcome the numerous misconceptions that surround our voting processes.
From the earliest days of our country’s history, voting has followed an interesting path. While the offices being pursued in any given election may be local, state, or federal in nature, all voting has always been managed by local and/or state election procedures. In the early years, pursuant to a federal law adopted in 1792, states were allowed to hold elections whenever they wanted so long as it occurred within a 34-day period before the first Wednesday in December. The obvious flaw in that approach was the potential that public acknowledgment of the outcome of early elections could influence subsequent elections. In 1845, Congress passed a federal law providing that the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November would be Election Day. The logic compelling this date on the calendar is easier to understand when one considers the fact that at that time, the majority of US citizens lived on farms and harvest time was no time to be worrying about elections!! Getting to the polling place by horse and/or buggy before the snow fell was also a consideration. Why not the weekend? Saturday was still a work day, and on Sunday, everyone went to church. Wednesday was typically market day for the farmers so early November and Tuesday were logical choices.
The modern concept of voting in private is a departure from how elections were conducted in the earliest days of the Republic. For over 50 years, voting was done in person and out loud! As late as 1891, that was still the process in Kentucky! A voter would arrive at the courthouse or other designated polling location and would then be sworn in but a judge or other voting official. The oath simply was a declaration that they were who they said they were and that they hadn’t voted already at some other location. After being sworn in, the voter would declare his name (recall that universal suffrage was not in place so that women could vote until the 20th century) and then announce his choices for the offices being elected. Election Day was an event in many locations around the country. Since there weren’t yet the restrictions that we observe today about campaigning at or near the polling place, there was typically a party atmosphere with candidates and their supporters’ providing “incentives” to the voters as they approached the poll. Frequently, the “incentive” was a shot of whiskey or other alcoholic beverage, and so Election Day was not infrequently a day of drunken revelry. While it may not be fair to assume that voters showed up just to get their free booze, the fact is that voter turnout during this era was as high as it has ever been, with over 80 percent of eligible voters showing up at the polls. Today, many states require that the local bars and other establishments that sell alcoholic beverages close on election day until the polls close.
The first paper ballots started to appear in the 1800’s and “paper” meant just that. Any scrap of paper would do so as long as the voter scribbled the name or names of his choices on it and deposited the “ballot” in a ballot box. As time went on, the sophistication of this process was led not by election boards but by newspapers, which would print “tickets” in the paper with the names of the candidates separated by party affiliation so that a voter could simply cut or tear the “ticket” out of the paper and mark it according to his choices, including a “straight ticket.”
While today, there is some controversy about “mail-in” ballots, the history of mailed ballots actually goes back to the Civil War when citizen soldiers were permitted to mail a ballot back to their hometown. In one form or another and for typically perfectly sound reasons, mail-in ballots have continued to exist ever since. Persons who were infirm, unavoidably out of town, in the military, etc., were always seen as in need of the option to mail their votes to the polling location.