WISCONSIN IN 1958                         181

as communities grew and population changed rapidly it became im-
possible to control voting on such a personal basis and systems of
registration were developed whereby a person got his name on the
list of eligibles before the election occurred. Registration of electors
applies to every town, village and city having a population of 5,000
or more and every town, village and city of less than 5,000 popula-
tion, whose governing body adopts registration by local ordinance;
also every village and city regardless of size of population, in counties
having a population of 300,000 or more. Registration is continuous
if the elector votes once every 2 years.

                        Selecting Candidates

  Originally candidates for office were selected at caucuses or con-
ventions composed of delegates or all eligible voters. As a result of
the primary election law passed more than 50 years ago in Wiscon-
sin, this process is now used only in the case of towns and villages
today. At a town caucus all of the eligible voters participate and
they select 2 candidates for each office to be filled. The names of
these candidates and those who qualify by filing nomination papers,
are printed on the town or village ballots for the respective offices.
  The convention system was opposed by many people because it
was felt that sometimes the candidates selected were not the popular
choice but were dictated by a few political leaders. Thus the primary
election was instituted whereby any person who can secure a certain
number of signatures on a nomination paper, may be a candidate for
nomination. Thus under the convention system the party would have
one candidate, while under the direct primary system there may be
as many as 8 or 10 or even more people seeking the nomination for
the same office.
  At the present time in all positions except for town and village
officers, persons who desire to be candidates for the positions get
their names on the ballot through nomination papers, and a primary
election is held to eliminate all but one candidate for each position
from each party in a partisan election and all but 2 candidates for
each position in a nonpartisan election. In a nonpartisan election,
a primary is held only if there are more than 2 candidates seeking
the same office. Except for recall elections, a party primary elec-
tion is always held regardless of the number of candidates filing
nomination papers for any partisan office.
   Party candidates failing to receive the nomination at a primary
election and other candidates may have their names printed on the
general election ballots, by filing nomination papers as independent
candidates, but they rarely receive very many votes.
  In a nonpartisan primary election the 2 candidates receiving the
greatest number of votes cast for an office are declared the nominees.
In a party primary if the total vote cast for an office equals 5 per
cent of the average party vote cast for Governor at the 2 last general