Page:Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1st ed, 1833, vol II).djvu/299

 CH. XI.] to make any regulations, or interfere in the slightest degree with the elections of members of congress. If, therefore, experience can demonstrate any thing, it is the entire safety of the power in congress, which it is scarcely possible (reasoning from the past) should be exerted, unless upon very urgent occasions. The states now regulate the time, the place, and the manner of elections, in a practical sense, exclusively. The manner is very various; and perhaps the power has been exerted, in some instances, under the influence of local or party feelings, to an extent, which is indefensible in principle and policy. There is no uniformity in the choice, or in the mode of election. In some states the representatives are chosen by a general ticket for the whole state; in others they are chosen singly in districts; in others they are chosen in districts composed of a population sufficient to elect two or three representatives; and in others the districts are sometimes single, and sometimes united in the choice. In some states the candidate must have a majority of all the votes to entitle him to be deemed elected; in others (as it is in England) it is sufficient, if he has a plurality of votes. In some of the states the choice is by the voters viva voce, (as it is in England;) in others it is by ballot. The times of the elections are quite as various; sometimes before, and sometimes after the regular period, at which the office becomes vacant. That this want of uniformity, as to the time and mode of election, has been productive of some inconveniences to the public service, cannot be doubted; for it has sometimes occurred, that at an extra session a whole state has been deprived of its vote; and at the regular