A Recovering Primary election Worker
For the last two weeks in February I worked as a poll clerk and then on March third I was a poll judge in the primary election held in Collin County Texas. The ballot was long and the hours the polls were open were long, but people who came to vote were tenacious about the activity even when the lines snaked out the door, and the machines malfunctioned near the end of the day.
The most common question asked as they were getting signed -in to get their ballots was , “why do I have to choose which party’s ballot I get?” A large number of voters, and not the young first timers, did not understand the nature of a “Primary” election. So lets take a few minutes and re-acquaint yourself with the very American political process.
The time period from the end of the Spanish-American War to American entry into World War I (1898-1916) became known as the Progressive Era. The Progressives never were a unified group with a single objective. But they all relied on grassroots organizers to seek their reforms. They had a number of characteristics which distinguished them: *fought against government corruption; *advocated regulation & control of big business; *advocated welfare for the Urban poor and * worked to improve labor conditions
Progressives were essentially middle class moralists with an agenda. They believed that government must act to make things better; that government must be responsive to the needs of the people; that business must behave fairly, and that the poor and weak must be protected (even if they did not want the protection).
For the most part, Progressive reformers were paternalistic, moderate, and often soft-headed. But they all held that political corruption and inefficiency were at the heart of all other evils. Beginning in the late 1890’s they mounted an attack on dishonest and inefficient urban government. In most cities assaults on political machines required drastic changes in urban institutions. Home Rule charters freed cities from state control and allowed reformers to experiment with various forms of city governments. The city-manager form was one such success. Most changes needed state involvement to be successful.
Most successful state reformer was Robert M. La Follet, the Progressive governor of Wisconsin. He overhauled state politics by obtaining a direct primary system for nominating candidates, while limiting campaign contributions. In addition, he created special commissions of experts to handle specific problems. This “system” spread to other Midwestern states.
Voting in the early days of the Republic was based on property ownership and standing in the community. The Founding Fathers, such as Jefferson doubted the ability of the “great unwashed” citizenry to be able to choose good leaders. As the country grew and as ideas about popular participation changed so did voting privileges. But well into the late 19th century distrust of “the common man” to be a good voter remained. That concept change with the Progressive reformers.
One of the major Progressive political reforms was the creation of the primary election which allowed all citizens to actively choose party candidates. Before the primary system was adopted, candidates for office were selected by party bosses beholden to the rich and powerful in a community. In many cities political machines such as Tammany Hall in New York City not only selected candidates, They also directed uneducated voters who to vote for.
So what is the primary? A Primary election is one way for members of one political party to democratically choose who their candidates will be in the next major election for president. It can either be a “Closed Primary” where voters must be registered members of a party to vote in their primary, or an “Open Primary” where voters can choose in which party primary they want to vote.
Whether the primary of “open” or “closed” depends on state law since according to the US Constitution (Article I, section 4) the states are tasked with holding all elections: “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of [chusing] Senators.” The exception for senators was because, according to Article I section 3 senators were chosen by state legislatures not directly elected.
Rules for voting for the president and vice president was covered in Article II section 1:
“The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.”
This format set up the Electoral College, which technically elects the executive and is vice president. So as the Constitution stood in1789 elections in the new republic were not exactly democratic.
However, the drafters of the constitution understood that things could change over time and so they built into the Constitution a way to modify it: the Amendment process defined in Article V:
“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”
The US constitution has been amended twenty-seven times and five of those amendments specially deal with voting rights. (1) In 1865 the 15th amendment grant voting rights to newly freed male slaves and forbid denial by virtue of race, color, or previous servitude. (2) The Progressive inspired 17th amendment ratified in 1913 required that US Senators be directly elected. (3) Another Progressive victory came I 1920 with the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. (4) A 1964 civil rights inspired amendment the 24th ensured the right to vote in any national election primary, and forbid the levy of a poll tax or any other kind of tax. (5) The final “voting” amendment was the 26th, ratified in 1971, which set the national voting age at 18 years of age or older. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
All of these amendments expanded the pool of voters and redefined the qualifications to ensure a more democratic voting experience. But all of this is in vane if we, as US citizens, do not exercise this right. But just showing up at the polls is not enough. We waste our vote if we vote ignorant of the issues and the consequences of some election outcomes.
Applause to those who turned out to vote in the primary election this past week. Hopefully most of those who marked their ballot knew who and what they were voting for.
