ELECTION. in politics, is the choice of pub lic by the vote of those who are entitled to exerei-e the elective franchise. This is to he dis tinguished. on the one hand, from the appointment of officers by a superior, as by a king, a president, c r a Dtay”r; and. On the other hand. from the selection by lot. the last-named method of choosing public officers was considered by Aristotle one of the characteristic features of a popular government. it has Leen advocated by other writers. because of its tendency to pre bent the formation of political parties. Party orranizathm. the caucus, the coalition of different tact hots, th; corruption of voters. the falsification of election returns. the interest of a particular candidate and kindred evils, it is argued, will all he swept away if officers are selected by lot.
I.\ hen officers are chosen by the great body of the voting population. the election is spoken of as popular or diner. This is the prevailing form in free government at present. It. had its origin in the general assemblies of primitive States, such as the Roman Concilia. the Athenian Eccle-ia. the Teutonic As-11111)1y of Freemen. After the establishment of the Roman Empire, popular election became a farce, and finally dis appeared as a political institution of the Roman State. It was continued. however, in the ecele sia,tical government of the Christian Church, and reappeared throughout Europe in the guilds of all kind, whose members chose their offivers, as well as in the free towns, whose citizens elected their municipal officers to attend to local affairs, and their representatives to take part in the deliberations and legislation of Parliament,: or the States-General. Election is said to be indirect or )(Naive when it is limited to a comparatively small body, whose members have them-elves been chosen by the general mass of electors. Elective monarchs have usually been selected in this way. Examples may be found in the ease of the former kings of Poland and llun gary. and of the head of the old German Empire. At times the choice of candidates for kingship has been limited to a certain family, while the right of voting was exercisable by all the free men. Sneh appears to have been the early prac tice of most Teutonic States. As a State en this practice is generally moditiol. Dr. Stubbs tells that tile election of the King in Anglo-Saxon belonged, both in form and substance. to the \V it an. although exercised by that body in the general assemblies of the whole nation. A striking example of indireet or repre s, n.tntive elections in our time is afforded by the choice of United States Senators by the legisla tures of the various States. In theory, the Presi dent of the United States is selected by the Presidential chosen in each State. In practice, however, these electors cast their votes for the party candidate.
Am,ther classification of elections is based upon tl e functions of the offices to which per.", . are chosen. An election is national which has for its object the selection of national officer-, styli as members of the United States House of Representatives, who are chosen every p.ars, and the ('resident and Vice-President, Whu are chosen every four years. It is tyled a Mat, election when held for the choice of State rs, such as Governor. Lieut elm nt.Governor. and members of the State Legislature. if the political duties of an officer are confined to a particular subdivision of the State. such as a town. a c ity. or a county, his election is known as municipal.
Any fraudulent act tending to defeat an lion est, free. fair, and pure election is a criminal of fense ? it common Varions statutes have been passed in almost eery State for the express purpose of securing to voters entire freedom of action and of preventing improper practices in voting, in receiving votes, in counting votes. and in registering the results. The validity and regu larity of elections are not infrequently disputed, and such disputes present important questions for the courts or for special tribunals. tif the latter class, tic most famous in the history of this country is the Presidential Electoral Com mission of 1S'7 c, constituted of five Senators, tire of the House of Representatives, and live associate justices of the States Supreme Court, which decided the contest be tween Tilden and Hayes. 1:3- the Federal Cu ,titution each House of Congress is the final judge of the election of its members, and a similar pro vision relating to the State legislatures is found in most of the State constitutions. It must be CI that nearly every ease of contested election in Congress or State legislatures ha: been decided upon purely partisan considerations. Contested Parliamentary elections in Great Brit ain are determined by the courts, and not by the I-louse of Commons. Surely, this is the fairer and better method.
Election officers, whether inspectors at the various voting precinets, or of a county or State board of ealivassers, perform merely ministerial functions. They are not judicial or quasi-judicial officers. Their duty is to do the acts prescribed by statute. and not to pass judg ment upon disputed questions. If they go be yond their ministerial duties and attempt to exercise judicial they subject them selves to an action tor damage, by any prison legally wronged. as well as to criminal punish ment. (See BALLOT: ELECTORAL REFORM; SUF FRAGE; VOTE.) Pcoph v,. Board of Call rasserc, 129 N. Y., 37 1-72: People vs. Rice. 139 N. Y., 4113-01: Aristotle. Po/ities. by Weldon Lominn, HS:I : Freeman, Comparative Polities (London. 1S731; Woolsey, Political science (New York. 1q77); Stanwood. Presidential Elections (1S92).