first paragraph of Section 1, Article VII., by making it read, "in the county forty days, and in the precinct, township, or ward, ten days". There is no separate residence qualification for cities, except for those of the first class, having more than 25,000 inhabitants. Here a voter must have rẹsided three months. A clause of the Federal constitution provides that all persons born ZENS and naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction, are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside. The constitution of Nebraska provides that persons of a foreign birth who, thirty days before an election, shall have declared their intention to CITI become citizens of the United States, may ALIENS be voters. This means that they shall have taken the first step in naturalization thirty days beforehand. The first step of a foreigner in acquiring citizenship is an application, in which he not only affirms that he wishes to become a citizen of the United States, but that he renounces all allegiance to the government to which he previously belonged. The foreigner must do this on oath before certain prescribed courts of the United States, or of the State. These formalities are all in relation to becoming a citizen of the United States, which cannot be completed until the one who applies for citizenship has lived in the United States continuously 1 Consol, Statutes, 1891, § 1584. for five years immediately before the time his naturalization is completed. Criminals, persons of unsound mind, and those belonging to the army and navy of the United States are not entitled to vote. In our State, women can vote only at school elections; and then only in case they are qualified. A woman must either have children of school age or possess property taxed in her own name at the last election. The reason why criminals and persons of unsound mind are not allowed to vote are evident. It is clear, too, in regard to those in the employ of the United States, that if they could vote in any state where they happened to be, there would be a strong temptation for the authorities to place the soldiers where their votes would be most needed. Minors, or those under twenty-one years of age, are not permitted to vote for reasons unnecessary to give. The next question that presents itself to the mind of the student is, "For whom do electors vote?" May a voter cast his ballot for any one to fill a certain position? Nothing prevents him NOMI- TIONS from so doing, but a regular process is followed in order that voting and nominating may be more orderly and that those holding common views may unite on candidates. The usual system of nominations is one by con. ventions. Each political party does as it chooses about the way it nominates its candidates for offices, but until recently the plan of nominating, in the case of all parties in all states, was as follows: 1. CONVEN TION SYS TEM Every district has a central committee except the precinct, which has a committee man. There are central committees for city, county, state, and nation. When there is to be a national election, the call for conventions begins with the national committee. That committee issues a call to each state for a state convention which shall elect delegates to the national convention. The call is issued to the "state central committee", which, in turn, sends to the county central committees all over the state calls for county conventions to meet on a certain date for the purpose of selecting delegates to the state convention. In each county, the central committee notifies the committeeman in each precinct to call the precinct meeting or caucus. This ward or precinct caucus, when it has met, elects delegates to the county convention, also the committeeman who is to serve for the coming year. At the date set for the county convention, the delegates thus selected meet to transact very much of the party business. (a) the delegates to the state basis of representation varies. one delegate for every hundred voters in the county, one for a fraction of 100 greater than 50, and one "at large" from the county. (b) When Here are elected convention. The It is customarily (d) a congressman is to be elected, the county convention also selects delegates to a congressional district convention. For instance, the Saunders County convention elects delegates to the Fourth Congressional district convention, to which delegates are also sent by Butler, Polk, Hamilton, York, Seward, Saline, Fillmore, Thayer, Jefferson, and Gage counties. (c) In any year when there is to be elected a district judge, a judicial district convention is formed by delegates from the counties in the judicial district. These are elected in county convention. For the fifth judicial district, Saunders, Butler, Polk, Hamilton, York, and Seward counties send delegates. The counties forming a senatorial district send delegates to a senatorial convention, unless the district is made up of only one county. In that case, the county convention itself nominates candidates for state senator. (e) The same is true of the representative district. It sometimes happens that when a district composed of two counties is entitled to three representatives, one is elected by each county and the remaining one is chosen by both counties. The term "float" is often applied to the district convention which chooses the delegate at large, and the members of it are then said to be "float" delegates; but it differs in no way from the other district conventions. The convention for any district makes out the "ticket" of candidates who are to be voted for in that district. The city convention nominates the candidates for the city offices, the county convention for the county offices, etc. 2.0TH A period of reform in methods of nominations seems to have begun between 1880 and 1890. Now (1898) there are here and there in the United States variations from the convention system, some of which are quite different. They are known by some special name, as the "Crawford County System" (Pennsylvania), the "Kentucky System", the Chicago System ", the "Polk County System" (Nebraska), and the ER SYS- "Lincoln System", (Nebraska). In our TEMS State the Polk County System seems to have been the first to adapt the Australian ballot to nominations. It requires that a candidate shall have a petition asking for his nomination, having a certain number of signers; that the expenses of printing ballos, etc., shall be paid for by the candidates; and that the candidates' names shall be printed in the form of the Australian ballot and voted for with all the usual forms of a regular election. About the year 1895, a special plan of nominating was started at Lincoln, which has since been perfected into what is now called the "Lincoln System". One of the special features of it is the use of two primary elections by ballot. It is required that a candidate, to be the nominee of the party, must have a majority of the ballots cast. If this is not obtained at the first ballot in the case of any office, a sec |