The United States Constitution - 1698 Words

The United States Constitution was ratified in the summer of 1788 and is the governing document of the United States of America. Owing to its brevity and clarity of thought, it has stood the test of time, whereas founding laws of other nations have come and gone, lost to the thoughts of the many for whom they were originally conceived of to sustain. Of the prescient statutes that comprise this most venerable of documents is Article 1, Section Four, which laid a foundation for the election of federal representatives. It states in part: 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†¦show more content†¦While codification of this statute in 1875 for the U.S. House of Representatives and in 1914 for the U.S. Senate has accomplish much in the way of streamlining the elections process throughout the United States, the na tion is still saddled with a patchwork of 50 state laws which make it, almost by constitutional decree, impossible for citizens of the United States to equally exercise their civic voting rights. While the U.S. Code mandates a date for federal elections, the Constitution simultaneously grants each state broad power in how it conducts federal elections. The outcomes on Election Day are the result of disparate voting experiences and, some argue that to protect the integrity of the electoral system, changes need to be implemented. Others argue that voter turnout is a problem, with the United States historically ranking embarrassingly low internationally in voter turnout, but that these results are due to lack of voter interest in the political system as a whole rather than lack of opportunity to cast a ballot. Is there a problem, and if we agree there is, what is at its root? Furthermore, what could be done politically to address any such problem? Those U.S. citizens that seek to participate in the election process are in some precincts faced with an inadequate number of poll workers and voting