Table of Contents
Who can vote according to the Constitution?
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Does the Constitution give states the right to run elections?
Article I, Section 4, Clause 1: 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.
Is it illegal to not vote in the US?
In the U.S., no one is required by law to vote in any local, state, or presidential election. According to the U.S. Constitution, voting is a right. Many constitutional amendments have been ratified since the first election. However, none of them made voting mandatory for U.S. citizens.
Who rules in a oligarchy?
Broadly speaking, an oligarchy is a form of government characterized by the rule of a few persons or families. More specifically, the term was used by Greek philosopher Aristotle in contrast to aristocracy, which was another term to describe rule by a privileged few.
Is the United States a democracy?
The once-peculiar claim that the United States was a democracy slowly came to have some basis in reality. That basis is now crumbling, and the people have taken notice. In no small part that’s because the long era during which average Americans grew more wealthy has come to a sputtering stop.
Why do some states always have 2 electoral votes?
Each state is also allowed to always have two because of the U. S. Senators. For an example, Kentucky has six Representatives and two Senators: therefore Kentucky has eight electoral votes to help choose a President. There are 538 possible Electoral College votes in the United States.
What is the difference between a democracy and a representative democracy?
A system of government is called ‘democratic’ if the people have a direct say in how they are governed. Representative democracy is a particular type of democracy in which the people authorize others to govern on their behalf, through a voting process of some kind.
How are members of the House of Representatives elected?
As a result, the Constitution only states that members of the House of Representatives were to be elected by the people of each state who, under state law were eligible to vote for the lower house of their state legislature. The Constitution, therefore, left to each state government the power to decide who could vote.