Election votes select candidates rather than deciding specific measures.

Evidence

The second of the hard facts about representative government is that (direct popular law making aside) the voters in the end must vote for men and not for measures. In the election of a legislature, each voter, ordinarily, can vote for only one man, or woman. To the extent that a successful candidate has identified himself in advance with support of or opposition to particular measures, the vote tor him will to a degree be a vote for or against those measures. But the significance of the vote in this respect is necessarily severely limited. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 3768

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The referendum is a popular veto, not a device for innovating law — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 3565; Two-party elections rarely yield a mandate for any single policy. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 3790; Ballot-box accountability fails for decisions of great complexity and detail — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 4263