Federal Election Commission

“ V. Respondents inaccurately disclosed the amount of the Committee's receipts, disbursements, and cash on hand in reports filed with the Commission, in violation of 2 U.S.C. § 434 (b) , and did not deposit contributions within 10 days of receipt as required by 11 C.F.R. § 103.3 (a) .
VI 1. Respondents will pay a civil penalty to the Federal Election Commission in the amount of Thirteen Thousand Dollars ($13,000.00) , pursuant to 2 U.S.C. § 437g (a) (5) (A) .
2. Respondents will cease and desist from violating 2 U.S.C. § 434 (b) and 11 C.F.R. 103.3 (a) . ”

“ After such an example, it can not be said that indirect popular election is never advantageous. Under certain conditions it is the very best system that can be adopted. But those conditions are hardly to be obtained in practice except in a federal government like that of the United States, where the election can be intrusted to local bodies whose other functions extend to the most important concerns of the nation. ”

“ Article II created the electoral college, providing that the States would select electors in the manner provided by State legislatures, and those electors would in turn vote for the President. Today, every State selects Presidential electors by popular vote, and each State’s laws provide for procedures to resolve election disputes, including through lawsuits if necessary. After any election issues are resolved in State or Federal court, each State’s government transmits a certificate of the ascertainment of the appointed electors to Congress and the National Archives. ”

“ All citizens now vote as members of industrial, social, or professional groups, regardless of their residence. Thus the electorate consists of solidified, unified, and intelligent groups who elect only their best members to positions of governmental trust and responsibility. There is one exception to this scheme of functional or group suffrage: The election of a federal chief executive every six years is by nation-wide ballot, and no citizen casts over one vote. ”

“ The qualifications of the electors being the same as those of the representatives for the state legislatures, and the election being under the control of the legislature, the prohibitory provisions against undue means of procuring votes to the state representation extend to the federal representatives: the extension of the sphere of election to so considerable a district will render it impossible for contracted influence, or local intrigues, or personal interest, to procure an election. ”

“ If they know that such a man as they wish—for instance, the actual President—cannot possibly be elected by a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, yet if they can prevent the election, by such majority, of any one they disapprove of, and if they can procure such a number of votes as will be sufficient to make their favorite one of the five highest on the list, they may ultimately carry the election into the general Congress, where the votes, in choosing him, shall be taken by states, each state having one vote. ”

“ Federal law, in what is known as the “safe harbor” provision, provides that if a state, under its established statutory procedure, has made a “final determination of any controversy or contest” relative to the presidential election in the state, and if that determination is completed under this procedure at least six days before the electors are to meet to vote, such determination is to be considered “conclusive” as to which electors were appointed on election day (3 U.S.C. §5) . ”

“ Fourth. "That the Congress may by law deprive the electors of a fair choice of their representatives, by fixing improper times, places, and modes of election."
Every House of Representatives are of necessity to be the judges of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members. It is therefore their province, as well as duty, to see that they are fairly chosen, and are the legal members; for this purpose, it is proper they should have it in their power to provide that the times, places, and manner of election should be such as to insure free and fair elections. ”

“ Whatever doubt may have been expressed or felt whether this statute applied to the canvassers of a presidential election, or whether the words prima facie really meant prima facie, or whether "courts of justice," and "civil officers," included the Electoral Commission and the two Houses of Congress, there can be no doubt that "the returns of the elections thus made and promulgated" do not include returns canvassed without jurisdiction, or made under cover of pretended affidavits which the returning officers themselves caused to be forged. ”

“ The 1st clause of the 4th section gives the Congress an unlimited power over elections. This matter was not cleared up to my satisfaction. They have full power to alter it from one time of the year to another, so as that it shall be impossible for the people to attend. They may fix the time in winter, and the place at Edenton, when the weather will be so bad that the people cannot attend. The state governments will be mere boards of election. The clause of elections gives the Congress power over the time and manner of choosing the Senate. ”

“ The interest of each state will be equally attended to in appointments, and the choice will be more judicious by the junction of the Senate to the President. Except in the appointments of officers, and making of treaties, he is not joined with them in any instance. He is perfectly independent of them in his election. It is impossible for human ingenuity to devise any mode of election better calculated to exclude undue influence. He is chosen by the electors appointed by the people. He is elected on the same day in every state, so that there can be no possible combination between the electors. ”

“ If it is fit to take from the states their control over the choice of electors of President and Vice-President, and give it to the federal government, it would be equally proper, under the popular idea of giving their election to the people, to divide the states into districts for the choice of senators, as was proposed in the Convention, and give to Congress the control over their election also. ”

“ IN GENERAL.—Each State shall provide a sufficient number of voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources (including physical resources) at a polling place used in any election for Federal office, including a polling place at which individuals may cast ballots prior to the date of the election, to ensure— “ (A) a fair and equitable waiting time for all voters in the State; and “ (B) that no individual will be required to wait longer than 30 minutes to cast a ballot at the polling place. ”

“ Every political party with members who have won at least one seat by way of election in either of the People's Assembly or Shoura Council in the last elections may nominate one of its members of the presidency.
Article 28 A supreme judicial commission named the "President Elections Commission" will supervise the election of the president republic beginning with the announcement of the opening of candidate nomination and ending with the announcement of the election result. ”

“ Inquiries will be made, by the voters, into the characters of the candidates. Greater talents, and a more extensive reputation, will be necessary to procure an election for the federal than for the state representation. ”

“ People are apt to be attached to old customs. Annual elections may be proper in our state governments, but not in the general government. The seat of government is at a considerable distance; and in case of a disputed election it would be so long before it could be settled, that the state would be totally without representation. There is another reason, still more cogent, to induce us to prefer biennial to annual elections. The objects of state legislation are narrow and confined, and a short time will render a man sufficiently acquainted with them ”

“ While one cannot dispute the basis for [Congress' concern that an election commission exist not in whole of presidential appointees] as a practical matter, it would seem that those who sought to challenge incumbent Congressmen might have equally good reason to fear a Commission which was unduly responsive to members of Congress whom they were seeking to unseat. ”

“ Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Commission is empowered to order the proclamation of winning candidates despite the fact that the scheduled election has not taken place in a particular country or countries, if the holding of elections therein has been rendered impossible by events, factors and circumstances peculiar to such country or countries, and which events, factors and circumstances are beyond the control or influence of the Commission. ”

“ It was necessary, on the one hand, that the people should appoint one branch of the government, in order to inspire them with the necessary confidence; but he wished the election, on the other, to be so modified as to secure more effectually a just preference of merit. His idea was, that the people should nominate certain persons, in certain districts, out of whom the state legislatures should make the appointment. ”

“ The members of the board of inspectors shall receive the same rates of pay for services rendered in connection with the plebiscite as those provided in the Election Code of 1971.
Sec. 9. Watchers. — The Commission on Elections may designate in each polling place, on recommendation of civic groups, not more than six watchers, who are of good reputation and who shall not have been convicted of any offense nor have pending against them any complaint or information for any election offense. They shall have the same rights and duties as those provided in the Election Code for watchers. ”

“ The record of the State in carrying out the following with respect to the administration of elections for Federal office: “ (A) Providing voting machines that are less than 10 years old. “ (B) Implementing strong chain of custody procedures for the physical security of voting equipment and paper records at all stages of the process. “ (C) Conducting pre-election testing on every voting machine and ensuring that paper ballots are available wherever electronic machines are used. “ (D) Maintaining offline backups of voter registration lists. ”

“ Vindicating the public’s right to know, more than drawing its own conclusions or achieving partisan political goals, was the paramount purpose of the special investigation, and the Committee succeeded in satisfying this first purpose.
A second purpose of the inquiry and hearings was to scrutinize the operation of the current legal and regulatory framework for federal elections. For Congress to legislate and govern effectively, it must conduct routine oversight to learn how the government is functioning. ”

“ While the federal government has not thought it advisable to provide for separate elections for congressmen, nor to interfere with the general laws for the conduct of those elections passed by the states, it has enacted the sections above referred to, and among others those for the punishment of persons who violate the election laws at an election where votes are cast for a member of congress. ”

“ Those who have been for years calling attention to the pressing necessity of throwing about the ballot box and about the elector further safeguards, in order that our elections might not only be free and pure, but might clearly appear to be so, will welcome the accession of any who did not so soon discover the need of reform. The National Congress has not as yet taken control of elections in that case over which the Constitution gives it jurisdiction, but has accepted and adopted the election laws of the several States, provided penalties for their violation and a method of supervision. ”

“ With reference to contests relating to other federal elections—federal congressional elections—or in other challenges to the credentials of Members-elect, the practice in Congress has been to place a clear burden of proof upon the objecting party to overcome the presumption of validity of an election that has already been officially certified by the proper state officials. ”

“ Furthermore, Congress provided uniform national rules for absentee voting in presidential and vice-presidential elections. In enacting these regulations, Congress was attempting to insure a fully effective voice to all citizens in national elections. What I said in Part I of this opinion applies with equal force here. Acting under its broad authority to create and maintain a national government, Congress unquestionably has power under the Constitution to regulate federal elections. The Framers of our Constitution were vitally concerned with setting up a national government that could survive. ”

“ It is not by riding post to and from Congress that a man can acquire a just knowledge of the true interests of the Union. This term of election is inapplicable to the state of a country as large as Germany, or as the Roman empire in the zenith of its power.
If we consider the objects of their delegation, little doubt will remain. It is admitted that annual elections may be highly fit for the state legislature. Every citizen grows up with a knowledge of the local circumstances of the state. But the business of the federal government will be very different. ”

“ SHERMAN thought that the sense of the nation would be better expressed by the legislature than by the people at large. The latter will never be sufficiently informed of characters, and, besides, will never give a majority of votes to any one man. They will generally vote for some man in their own state, and the largest state will have the best chance for the appointment. If the choice be made by the legislature, a majority of voices may be made necessary to constitute an election.
Mr. WILSON. Two arguments have been urged against an election of the executive magistrate by the people. ”