How can voters and their elected

Another 90 countries and territories have no laws requiring all qualified residents to register to vote, though registration may be required in order to vote. In Austria, voter registration and voting itself were compulsory in at least one province until ; today, there is no requirement to register or to vote in Austrian elections.

There is no compulsory voter registration in the U. The vast majority of countries and territories have a minimum voting age of 18 for national elections. Out of countries and territories for which the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network has data, have a minimum voting age of Just 12 countries or territories allow people younger than 18 to vote in national elections. Worldwide, the lowest minimum voting age for national elections is 16, including in Argentina, Austria and Brazil.

The highest is in the United Arab Emirates, where citizens must be In Italy, there is a split voting age : The minimum voting age for the lower house of Parliament is 18 years old, while voters must be 25 to vote in Senate elections.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, about a quarter of countries had used postal ballots in their national elections. Out of countries for which data is available, 40 used postal ballots in their most recent national election, according to country experts surveyed before the COVID outbreak by the Electoral Integrity Project.

Postal ballots were not available in most African and Caribbean countries, and not available in any Middle Eastern or Latin American countries. Paper ballots are by far the most common form of voting. Votes are cast by manually marking ballots in of the countries and territories for which the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network has data.

In a few countries, including Israel and Mali, voters select a ballot for a particular political party, put the ballot in an envelope and then deposit the envelope in a ballot box. Some countries use a mix of methods. Electronic voting machines are used in some large countries, such as India and the U. Voting by internet is used in four countries: Armenia, Canada, Estonia and Switzerland. In Gambia, meanwhile, the most recent presidential election relied on a system of placing marbles into drums.

The system was established in the s to address high levels of illiteracy. Congress also has enacted statutes limiting the amount of money that people may contribute to candidates for Congress, requiring that people publicly disclose most election-related spending, mandating that voter registration forms be made available at various public offices, and requiring states to ensure the accuracy of their voter registration rolls.

The power of states and Congress to regulate congressional elections under the Elections Clause is subject to express and implicit limits.

Fundamentally, neither entity can enact laws under the Elections Clause that violate other constitutional provisions. For example, the Constitution specifies that anyone who is eligible to vote for the larger house of a state legislature may vote for the U. House and U. Senate as well. The Elections Clause does not permit either the states or Congress to override those provisions by establishing additional qualifications for voting for Congress.

Likewise, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U. Constitution protects the fundamental right to vote, barring states from needlessly imposing substantial burdens on the right. When a law specifies that a person must satisfy certain requirements or follow certain procedures in order to vote, a court must determine whether it is a reasonable regulation of the electoral process under the Elections Clause, or instead undermines the right to vote.

Laws requiring people to register to vote in advance of elections or mandating that they vote at their assigned polling places are exactly the types of restrictions that the Elections Clause permits. The Constitution also specifies age, residency, and citizenship requirements to run for the House or Senate. Individuals who satisfy those requirements cannot be prohibited from running for office for failing to satisfy other qualifications.

States can, however, impose reasonable ballot access restrictions that a candidate must fulfill in order to appear on the ballot, such as submitting a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters. The Supreme Court has aggressively enforced this restriction by invalidating various attempts to impose term limits on Members of Congress. Term Limits, Inc. Thornton , the Court held that the Elections Clause did not permit a state to refuse to print on the ballot the names of candidates for the U.

House who already had served three terms there, or the names of candidates for the U. Senate who had already served two terms. The Supreme Court has explained that the Elections Clause also imposes implicit restrictions on the power to regulate congressional elections.

Neither Congress nor the states may attempt to dictate electoral outcomes, or favor or disfavor certain classes of candidates. In Cook v. Gralike , the Court struck down a provision that required election officials to print a special warning on the ballot next to the name of any candidate for Congress who refused to support an amendment to the U.

S Constitution that would impose term limits for Congress. The winning Presidential candidate's slate of potential electors are appointed as the State's electors—except in Nebraska and Maine, which have proportional distribution of the electors. In Nebraska and Maine, the State winner receives two electors and the winner of each congressional district who may be the same as the overall winner or a different candidate receives one elector. This system permits Nebraska and Maine to award electors to more than one candidate.

Electors do not vote twice for President. They are the only ones who actually vote for President, which they do at the meeting of the electors the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their States.

Some States, however, require electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote. These pledges fall into two categories—electors bound by State law and those bound by pledges to political parties. Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not require that electors be completely free to act as they choose and therefore, political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties' nominees.

Some State laws provide that so-called "faithless electors" may be subject to fines or may be disqualified for casting an invalid vote and be replaced by a substitute elector. The Supreme Court decided in that States can enact requirements on how electors vote. No elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.

However, several electors were disqualified and replaced, and others fined, in for failing to vote as pledged.