How did history handle voting challenges?

Ballot Tending:
The Strange History of How Americans Used to Vote

In the past few weeks, state governments have been considering the possibilities of absentee voting for this year's elections as a result of COVID-19. Citizens have raised concerns about both the health risk of voting in-person as well as mail-in voting and vulnerability to fraud.

The option to vote with a mail-in ballot is a more recent development that was virtually unheard of for much of our country's history. And absentee voting in America was historically divisive. How did we reach the standard processes of today?

Early American Voting Procedures

Early American elections were anything but private—rather than a ballot, voters appeared at their local courthouses to literally shout out their votes publicly. Before voting, each man would swear before a judge that he was who he presented himself as. Citizens often gathered outside the polls afterwards to drink and make merry.

Paper ballots didn't appear until the early 1800s and each voter was responsible for providing his own ballot. These varied from small pieces of scrap paper to official-looking pre-marked tickets that were distributed to citizens by political parties.

Voter Intimidation During Wartime

The first instances of absentee mail-in voting in America occurred during the Civil War when a large percentage of American men were away fighting. The U.S. soldier's initial voting experience was negatively affected by fraud, and state-sponsored intimidation was viewed by many as acceptable during wartime in order to preserve political stability.

(pictured, Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War under Lincoln)

Citizens were growing tired of the war, and the re-election of President Lincoln was not a certainty in the run up to the 1864 election. Several government officials hoped to help ensure his victory in the midst of turmoil.

According to JMC fellow Jonathan White, Republican soldiers were often treated better by their superiors and given more opportunities to vote. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton openly intimidated Democratic soldiers through dismissals and demotions. For soldiers who hailed from states without absentee voting provisions, Republicans were frequently the only ones allowed furlough to return home to vote. While absentee voting enfranchised servicemen to vote, it also created a new opportunity for voter suppression.

Absentee Voting Extended to Civilians

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, absentee voting was extended to civilians, but used sparingly in instances of serious illness or travel. Around this same time, states began to use standardized, government-issued ballots and to provide private voting booths. Federal laws were passed during World War II to ensure that servicemen had ample opportunity to vote while overseas. And in the 1980s, California became the first state to allow mail-in voting without an excuse.

As coronavirus weighs heavily on the minds of government and citizens, it is critical that we learn from history. We may soon find ourselves, like our predecessors, testing the capabilities of the American voting process.

States today have mail-in ballot provisions in place, but laws vary and the ability for some states to handle record numbers of absentee ballots is unclear.

Our history shows us that attempts at fraud are nothing new. While the Electoral College adds some safeguards, we ought to take this opportunity to consider what protections we need to have in place.

History can always teach us something about the present, but only if it remains a priority. Without knowledge of our predecessors' experiences, we have no basis to make important decisions about our country's future.

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About the Jack Miller Center

The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.

We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.

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