united-states voting politics
Is it legal for voters to take age of candidate into consideration?
<p>Some times in conversations that a candidate is too young/old. I wonder as it is illegal for companies to discriminate on basis of race/age/gender etc.</p>
<p>So will it be illegal for voters to think/decide on these factors?</p>
<p>If it is illegal, how it can be proved?</p>

<h2>Discrimination in employment</h2>
<p>The starting point is: discrimination is legal unless there is a law that says it isn't.</p>
<p>So for example, when I advertise a plumbing position, I can discriminate on the basis of if a candidate is or is not a plumber and, further, I can discriminate on how good a plumber I think they are.</p>
<p>What I can't do, in the <a href="/questions/tagged/united-states" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;united-states&#39;" rel="tag">united-states</a> is discriminate against someone on the basis of age <em>if</em> they are 40 or older. It is legal for me to discriminate against someone on age if they are younger than 40. Why? Because that's what the law says.</p>
<p>The full list of what constitutes illegal discrimination in employment is a person's race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. It is also illegal to retaliate against a person because he or she complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.</p>
<h2>Elections aren't employment</h2>
<p>Voters are free to vote for the candidate of their choice based on whatever reason they want. If I want to decide that the only candidates I will vote for are female homosexuals between the ages of 27 and 62 with one leg and a pirate accent, then that's my right.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>So will it be illegal for voters to think/decide on these factors?</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>If it is illegal, how it can be proved?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Take in consideration:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_proof_(law)" rel="noreferrer">burden of proof</a> is on the accuser. To press criminal charges against anyone, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that a crime happened. With hard evidence.</p>
</li>
<li><p>in the USA, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_ballot" rel="noreferrer">ballots are secret</a>. There's no way to prove how a specific voter voted.</p>
</li>
<li><p>In the USA, a person is protected against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-incrimination" rel="noreferrer">self-incrimination</a> by the Fifth Amendment.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Forcing to reveal how a particular person voted can lead to <strong>Vote-Buying</strong>, a kind of <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Electoral_fraud" rel="noreferrer">electoral fraud</a>. It is in all parties interest to make sure vote secrecy stands.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>A rational voter could vote any way they wanted. Even if voting for reason X or Y was a crime, unless they gave up their Fifth Amendment rights (and a reasonable person wouldn't as it brings them no benefits), it is impossible to prosecute such a case.</p>
<p>By (4) we can see that even trying to collect evidence on how a person voted, reasons notwithstanding, is a felony.</p>
<p>So, no. It is not illegal to use any criteria to cast a ballot because it is impossible to prosecute, even if a law against it existed. It doesn't but we won't attempt to prove a negative for obvious reasons.</p>
<p>Now, if the voter is not rational and goes on social media or any other public forum and brag they didn't vote for X because X has the Y protected characteristic (be it age, gender, ethnical group, disability, religion, etc), they could be liable for libel based on their statments, but not the vote.</p>
