The census vote is the electoral process in which, in advance, the criteria are established that will determine who are the eligible persons to appear on the electoral roll or list of authorized voters. Therefore it is the antithesis to equal suffrage.
Suffrage is the most common form of political participation in the world. It is especially important in a representative democracy where the people elect their leaders to make key decisions in government systems. A healthy democracy depends on broad political participation.
The evolution of democracy can be analyzed through the scope of suffrage. The term suffrage means the right to vote, and it was the most pressing and concrete objective for those who were historically excluded from electoral processes.
The United States was the first country to promote general elections of representatives through mass suffrage, but the electoral process was far from universal.
Initially, tax payment or property ownership requirements were established in order to vote.
By the 1850s, almost all of these requirements had been removed, thus allowing the white male working class to vote. Extending the right to vote to blacks and women took longer.
The statement "all human beings have the same rights" has come to symbolize the ideal of democracy.
However, this statement contrasts with the old restrictions on who was allowed to participate in electoral processes and also on the value of their elections.
Electoral systems allow large numbers of people, who individually have little political power, to have great power and collectively decide who governs and, in some cases, what leaders should do.
Simply holding elections is less important than the specific rules and circumstances that govern voting. According to democratic theory, everyone should be able to vote.
In practice, however, no nation grants universal suffrage. All countries have age requirements to vote, and all disqualify some inhabitants for various reasons such as: lack of citizenship, criminal record, mental incompetence or literacy, among others.
Characteristics of the census vote
Before elections are held, it is necessary to define who has the right to vote and this decision represents a crucial point for the functioning of any democratic society.
Modifying the rules about how votes are cast and who casts them can have a fundamental impact on the political dispositions of elected representatives, who in a sense constitute the collective government of voters.
Because governments generally have a monopoly of power over certain important activities, there are often implications for how the resources and wealth of a society are distributed among the population.
These decisions can favor or limit the well-being and the rate of economic growth of certain groups in society.
Considering everything that is at stake, it should not be surprising that throughout history many have fought and even died for the design of egalitarian and inclusive rules that guaranteed the right to vote for every member of society.
Initially, the census vote was designed to limit the right to vote only to those citizens considered to be the most responsible and best informed within society.
Ironically, only those who, because they had an appreciable income or had great wealth, had something else to lose with the electoral result, were considered ideal to exercise the right to vote.
Obviously the electoral results of this system did not guarantee the collective welfare.
The qualifier of "suitable" to exercise the right to vote can be based on: income level, educational level, age, extension and quantity of properties of the voter, among other factors.
In addition, in this type of suffrage the vote may not be secret, allowing regular manipulation of the electorate.
The census vote can limit the group of voters according to a series of criteria, but it can also remain universal, including, for example, ethnic minorities within this group, as long as they meet the conditions established in the census.
Under this mechanism, some people are formally and permanently subject to the rules of others, those groups whose opinion is considered more suitable or more qualified according to the criteria established in the census.
This type of universal suffrage, but unequal, goes against the principle of democracy that guarantees the equality of voters.
Disadvantages
The census vote violates one of the fundamental principles of democracy, which is political equality or citizenship, the idea that each person has the same weight in the vote to influence the results of an election.
Political or citizenship equality is intended to guarantee "equal protection", which means that everyone in a democracy is treated in the same way by the rulers.
In this sense, government programs should not favor one group over another, or deny benefits or protections to less politically influential groups.
Historical referents of the census vote
Until the 19th century, many prototypes of Western democracies had property qualifications in their electoral laws.
For example, only owners could vote or voting rights were weighted according to the amount of taxes paid.
In most of these countries, property qualification for national elections was abolished in the late 19th century, but remained for local government elections for several decades.
Today these laws have been largely abolished, although the homeless may not be able to register with the electoral system because they lack regular addresses.
Here are some historical referents of census suffrage:
- The electoral legislation of Spain from 1837 to 1844 established the following requirements for elections to Cortes:
“Male census suffrage: Spanish (male) voters over 25 years of age, with at least one year of residence in the province where they vote. And that, in addition, they are taxpayers with a minimum of 200 reais of fleece per year; they are owners or have certain capacities (of profession or education) with an annual net income of 1,500 reais of fleece at least; pay at least 3,000 reais of fleece a year as a tenant or sharecropper: or live in a house whose rent ranges between 2,500 and 400 reais of fleece at least depending on the size of the city where they live… "
- In the first elections for representatives to the United States Congress, the laws of the state of Virginia established as a requirement to have a property of at least 25 acres of established land or 500 acres of unstable land.
- The Piedmontese Statute and the Prussian Verfassung, revised in 1850, allowed elections to be held through a system of census suffrage, where the percentage of the population entitled to vote was extremely low: less than 1.5% in Prussia and no more than 2% in Piedmont.
"The heart of democracy lies in the electoral process." Anonymous.
References
- Barciela, C., et al (2005). Historical statistics of Spain: 19th-20th centuries, Volume 3. Bilbao, BBVA Foundation.
- Beckman, L. (2009). The Frontiers of Democracy: The Right to Vote and its Limits. Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan.
- Gizzi, M., Et al (2008). The Web of Democracy: An Introduction to American Politics. Belmont, Thomson Wadsworth.
- Sobel, D., et al (2016). Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy, Volume 2. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
- The Staff of Congressional Quarterly (2000). Concise Encyclopedia of Democracy. New York, Routledge.
- Tomka, B. (2013). A Social History of Twentieth-Century Europe. New York, Routledge.