American Institutions and Their Influence

by Alexis de Tocqueville

APPENDIX H.—Page 55.

SUMMARY OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTERS IN THE UNITED STATES.

All the states agree in granting the right of voting at the age of twenty-one. In all of them it is necessary to have resided for a certain time in the district where the vote is given. This period varies from three months to two years.

As to the qualification; in the state of Massachusetts it is necessary to have an income of three pounds sterling or a capital of sixty pounds.

In Rhode Island a man must possess landed property to the amount of 133 dollars.

In Connecticut he must have a property which gives an income of seventeen dollars. A year of service in the militia also gives the elective privilege.

In New Jersey, an elector must have a property of fifty pounds a year.

In South Carolina and Maryland, the elector must possess fifty acres of land.

In Tennessee, he must possess some property.

In the states of Mississippi, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, the only necessary qualification for voting is that of paying the taxes; and in most of the states, to serve in the militia is equivalent to the payment of taxes.