The time and place of holding regular elections are generally appointed in the public laws, and therefore, as electors are supposed to know the law and accordingly would receive notice from the statutes themselves, no proclamation or notice is mandatory, but proclamations for special elections must be issued by the authority named in the statutes and in strict accordance with those statutes. This notice is particularly important in cases of special elections to fill vacancies caused by death, resignation or re moval, where the statutes do not require that the vacancy be filled at the next general elec tion. Usually the statutes require that, for a certain time before election day, notices of a coming election shall be published in one or more newspapers or posted in the form of hand bills either at the polling places or at a number of public places. In elections to determine specific questions, the notices must fully inform the voters of the questions to be decided and such notices must not only clearly show the authority for the order but also that they themselves have been signed by the proper officers.
Time and Place of Holding Elections.— To be legal the time and place of holding an election must be fixed in advance, either by law or by legally authorized officials; and votes cast differently will avail nothing regardless of the eligibility of the candidates voted for. If the time be fixed by general law no other time will be legal, save where the statutes provide for special elections; if the statutes fix the time, no power may adjourn the election to a subse quent day, unless the constitution or statutes permit such adjournment, though legislatures are within their province in postponing elections in order to do away with frequent and unneces sary elections. A slight change in the voting place should not invalidate otherwise properly conducted elections, provided no voter is mis led or deprived of his vote by reason of the change. Under some circumstances the voting place may even be outside the election district, but the electors of the district who vote thereat would not be disfranchised on that account. Congress has power to determine the time of choosing the Presidential electors and on 1 March 1792 enacted that the choice should be made within 34 days preceding the first Wednes day in December. On 23 Jan. 1845 Congress en acted that Presidential electors be chosen on the Tuesday following the first Monday in Novem ber in each quadrennial year, and later (2 Feb. 1872) provided that, beginning with 1876 mem bers of the House should be elected on the same day in biennial years (aevena years), though some exceptions were allowed under the amend ing act of 3 March 1875, whereby certain States were permitted to continue holding their elec tions at an earlier date. Amendment XVII to the Constitution (effective 31 May 1913) pro vides for the election of senators by the direct vote of the people but makes no stipulation as to the time of election, merely providing that awhen vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive author ity of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the Leg islature of any State may empower the execu tive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.' Presumably, there fore, elections of senators are held the year preceding the expiration of the incumbent's term of office, the time being designated by the State legislature. Most of the State elections, and in many cases local and municipal elections, are held on the same day as the national elec tion, but in many States minor officials are not elected in the same year as the governor and lieutenant-governor. All the States hold their elections in November with the exception of Louisiana, Maine and Vermont, the election of the first named occurring in April and of the latter two in September. If a vacancy occur in an elective office, the governor of a State may call a special election or hold the choice over until the next regular election.
Classification of Votes and Voting — In dependent, Popular, Preferential, Compul See VOTE, Vomas, VOTING.
Electoral Qualifications, Colonial and Details respecting the franchise rights and privileges of the various States will be found in the articles ALIENS; CITIZENSHIP IN THE UNITED STATES; ELECTORAL)CIALIFI CATIONS; NATURALIZATION; UNITEDSTATES SUFFRAGE IN THE; VOTES, VOTERS, VOTING; WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
Terms of Office, Age Limits and Quali fications for Office.— See ELEcroaAt QuALt FICATIONS, TERMS OF AND QUALIFICATIONS FOR OFFICE.
Party Nominations, Primaries, Etc.—The four principal methods of choosing candidates are by the delegate convention system, the direct primary, the non-partisan primary, which is used in many municipalities, and nomination by peti tion only. The term is usually ap plied to the elections held by the political parties to nominate candidates or to choose delegates whose duty is to nominate candidates to compete in the following regular election. In either case party members only are allowed to vote in the primaries. Originally candidates for local offices announced their own candidacy or perhaps were nominated by an informal caucus; the legislative caucus nomi nated candidates for State offices; and aspirants for the Presidency were nominated by the Con gressional caucus (see Caucus) ; but the latter two caucuses were soon discarded and by 1832 the convention system had been generally adopted. (See CONVENTION, POLITICAL). This system was so indirect and complicated and so flagrantly abused that regulation of nominations became imperative and by 1900 party elections had been placed under the same legal restric tions as the regular elections. Beginning with 1900, however, the convention plan has been rapidly supplanted by the direct primary, under which candidates are selected by the direct vote of the party. Some States also allow each party a direct vote on choice for Presidential nominees. (See PRIMARY, DIRECT; PRIMARY, PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE; and in this connec tion see also IttmAtivz; REFERENDUM; RECALL). Under the non-partisan primary (which really is not a primary at all) the whole electorate participates in the selection of candidates later to be voted upon at the regular elections. This system has been developed in connection with the commission form of government (q.v. See also CITY MANAGER) as worked out in Des Moines, Iowa, and other places. The two can didates for mayor and the eight candidates for the four commissionerships receiving the high est number of votes may participate in the second and final election. In all elections, party emblems, circles, or other designations are pro hibited in connection with candidates' names. In some cities (as Berkeley, Cal), if any candi date receive a majority of all the votes cast, a second election is unnecessary so far as that particular office is concerned. In some locali ties preferential voting has been adopted so that national political parties will be eliminated from local elections. If any number of persons not constituting a political party be entitled to make nominations in the usual way and to have the names of their candidates placed upon the official hallo; they may present to the proper officials a petition containing the required number of signatures of qualified electors and their nomi nees may enjoy the same privileges on the official ballot as accorded to those regularly nominated by an existing party. Nominations by petition are used chiefly in local elections, and, unless required by statute, no party em blems or designations are used in connection with the names of candidates. Under a law passed in 1907 Wisconsin permits nominations to be made by petition only; but after nomina tions are filed upon petition of 5 per cent of the electors a preliminary election may be called to select the two candidates for each office and those two only are voted upon at the final election. In many States a declaration of party affiliation is necessary under the pri mary law. Illinois further prohibits the partici pation in a primary of anyone who has voted in the primary of another party within the pre ceding two years. Some States (as New York) use a system of party registration similar to that used for general elections. When the voter registers at that time an opportunity is presented to him to declare his party affiliation, if any, and from these declarations a list of party voters is compiled which is used as the registration for the ensuing primary election. The California law of 1899 and the Oregon law of 1901, which allowed electors to vote for either party without divulging party preferences, were declared unconstitutional. Under the Wisconsin law of 1903 the ballot is absolutely secret and the voter may vote for the candi date of whichever party he may choose, but he may not vote with more than one party at any election. The "open primary" eliminates the party test which is applied in the "dosed primary." In the non-partisan primary no party test can be applied since the elector votes for any candidate he may choose regardless of party ties.