Residents of Luzerne County,
Pennsylvania, must travel several hundred miles to the polls, according
to Timothy Pickering. Although the Assembly of Virginia placed a fine
upon every qualified voter who failed to perform his duty, and although
the Federalists of Maryland offered a roasted ox at one polling-place
to attract voters, it is estimated that not more than one-fourth the
men entitled to vote availed themselves of the privilege. Many had
been so recently enfranchised by the State constitutions that they did
not appreciate the right. Independence having been won, the details
of government failed to maintain civic zeal. In present-day elections,
by contrast, as many as five-sixths of those qualified to vote at
national elections avail themselves of the privilege.
It must also be noted that State qualifications for freemen determined
who should vote in this first national election. In those States where
the people voted, statistics show that only three men out of every
hundred of population could vote in this first presidential election,
where nowadays twenty men have that liberty. In some States, the people
had no voice whatever in choosing the President, because the State
Legislatures decided that they were the proper mediums to choose the
presidential electors.
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