The passage of this bill has been urged upon the ground that the
election of members of Congress is a matter which concerns the States
alone; that these elections should be controlled exclusively by
the States; that there are and can be no such elections as national
elections, and that the existing law of the United States regulating
the Congressional elections is without warrant in the Constitution.
It is evident, however, that the framers of the Constitution regarded
the election of members of Congress in every State and in every
district as in a very important sense justly a matter of political
interest and concern to the whole country. The original provision of
the Constitution on this subject is as follows (sec. 4, Art. I):
The times, places, and manner of holding elections for
Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State
by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time,
by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the
places of choosing Senators.
A further provision has been since added, which is embraced in the
fifteenth amendment. It is as follows:
SEC. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude.
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