Suffrage

Vote; the act of voting. Participation in the suffrage is not of right, but is granted by the state on a consideration of what is most for the interest of the state; Cooley, Const., 2d ed.

752; Spencer v. Board of Registration, 8 D. C. 169, 29 Am. Rep. 582; U. 8. v. Anthony, 11 Blatchf. 200, Fed. Cas. No. 14,459.

The grant of suffrage makes it a legal right until it is recalled, and it is protected by the law as property is. The states establish rules of suffrage except as shown below. Suffrage is never a necessary accompaniment of state citizenship, and the great majority of citizens are always excluded from it. On the other hand, suffrage is sometimes given to those who are not citizens; as has been done by no less than twelve of the states, in admitting persons to vote, w T ho, being aliens, have merely declared their intentions to become citizens. The right of voting in England, Ireland and Scotland has been confined to men from the earliest times down to the present day. The usage is inveterate; [1909] A. C. 160. The subject was also discussed in L. R. 4 C. P. 374. In Minor v. Ilappersett, 21 Wall. (U. S.) 162, 22 L. Ed. 627, it was held that the right of suffrage was not, at the adoption of the constitution, co-extensive with citizenship of the states, and therefore a state constitution which confined the right of voting to “male citizens of the United States” was no violation of the United States constitution. The following states, by their constitu- Colorado, 1893; Utah, 1896; Idaho, 1896; Washington, 1910; California, 1911; Oregon, 1912; Arizona, 1912; Kansas, 1912; Illinois (partially), 1913; and Alaska, 1913. Limited rights have been conferred in other states. It has been said that the constitution of the United States confers the right to vote upon no one. That right comes to the citizens of the United States when they possess it at all, under state laws. But the fifteenth amendment confers upon them a new exemption: From discrimination in elections on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude; U. S. v. Reese, 92 U. S. 214, 23 L. Ed. 563; U. S. v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542, 23 L. Ed. 588.

See Cooley, Const., 2d ed. 14; Ilare, Am. Const. L. 524; Election; Voter; Civil Rights; Woman.