# I've a scholarly question about constitutional election requirements. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 2, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-a-scholarly-question-about-constitutional-election-requirements/770471 "2016-11-02T20:54:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-a-scholarly-question-about-constitutional-election-requirements/770471/1 "2016-11-02T20:54:22Z")
I’ve scholarly questions about constitutional election requirements. Hypothetically, could the federal government just separate the presidential election from all the state and local elections? Am I correct in thinking that the president and vice president are the only elected persons who represent the entire nation and do not have a state affiliated with their position? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-a-scholarly-question-about-constitutional-election-requirements/770471/2 "2016-11-02T21:03:58Z")
The federal government sets the date for the election of the president and Congress, but the states run the election activity in their respective states. I can’t see how the feds could forbid the states from holding other elections on the same day. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-a-scholarly-question-about-constitutional-election-requirements/770471/3 "2016-11-02T21:04:52Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Am I correct in thinking that the president and vice president are the only elected persons who represent the entire nation and do not have a state affiliated with their position? The Constitution outlines the election process. The Electoral College elects the president, and the states each have processes for selecting those Electors. The Federal Government is bound by the following: > [@](#): > > 2: 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. > > 3: The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.8 > > 4: The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. So the States have the ultimate control of how the Electors are chosen. The Federal Government doesn’t really get a choice in how that happens unless it can be shown that the process violates some other aspect of the Constitution such discrimination based on protected classes. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-a-scholarly-question-about-constitutional-election-requirements/770471/4 "2016-11-02T21:14:51Z")
Just as a practical matter, elections are hugely expensive. Not just for the candidates, but for the states. There are over [100,000 polling places](http://web.archive.org/web/20061214025307/http://www.eac.gov/election_survey_2004/chapter_table/Chapter13_Polling_Places.htm) in the U.S. Each one needs to have its address sent out to registered voters, be staffed, have the proper voting machines installed, be cleaned and protected, etc. Holding separate state and federal elections would at least double that cost. (Presidential, congressional, and state triple it.) It would also surely suppress votes since a larger percentage of eligible voters turn out for president than any other contest. It’s doubtful that the federal election could be held separately without a change to the constitution, but just as doubtful that anyone would try. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-a-scholarly-question-about-constitutional-election-requirements/770471/5 "2016-11-02T21:16:59Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It’s doubtful that the federal election could be held separately without a change to the constitution, but just as doubtful that anyone would try. Yeah, as I said above I don’t see how the feds have the constitutional authority to forbid the states from holding state elections on the same day as the federal elections. Because that’s what it would take. Individual states could choose to do so, but the feds couldn’t mandate it unless we changed the constitution-- something that the states would not agree to, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-a-scholarly-question-about-constitutional-election-requirements/770471/6 "2016-11-02T21:31:59Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Hypothetically, could the federal government just separate the presidential election from all the state and local elections? It has happened, sort of. In 1970 Congress amended the 1965 Voting Rights Act and Richard Nixon signed, to allow 18-year olds to vote. The state of Oregon (where the voting age was 21) immediately challenged the law on the grounds that only the states had the right to establish voter qualifications. In the case [Oregon vs. Mitchell](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/400/112/) the Supreme Court held that Congress did have the right to set voting age for a national election (president), but not for state or local elections. The court’s decision could have forced the states to have a separate voter list and ballot just for the presidential election. That mess was sidestepped when the 26th Amendment was ratified in 1971. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-a-scholarly-question-about-constitutional-election-requirements/770471/7 "2016-11-02T23:45:01Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The federal government sets the date for the election of the president and Congress, but the states run the election activity in their respective states. I can’t see how the feds could forbid the states from holding other elections on the same day. There are a handful of states that hold their state & local elections in odd-numbered years. New Jersey is one of them. IIRC they all still hold general elections in November, but there’s no reason why a state couldn’t hold it’s general election in May (& have officeholders sworn in June or July). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-a-scholarly-question-about-constitutional-election-requirements/770471/8 "2016-11-03T01:35:03Z")
To answer the OP - no but the separate state Legislatures could since they have the sole power to decide how to select the electors.