Voting and Elections

While voting and elections are central to the United States' republican democracy -- they are, after all, the means through which the people choose and hold their representatives accountable -- debates over who should have the right to vote and how elections should be conducted have persisted throughout American history.

The 19th and 20th centuries witnessed considerable improvements in the "freedom and fairness" of American election practices: Most economic, racial, gender, and age restrictions were dismantled and procedural innovations (such as the Progressive Era introduction of the Australian Ballot) have greatly diminished the extent of corrpution and fraud.

Still, concerns remain as to whether the US's election practices are as democratic as they could be. For example, in addition to highlighting the potential for Electoral College failure, the 2000 presidential election fiasco also raised questions about voting machine technology (see also the cartoon posted below) and socioeconomic and racial disparities (pdf) in balloting procedures. Felony disenfranchisement is another point of concern, especially because of its racially and socioeconomically disparate impact.