The 100th Family

The 100th Family refers to a historical political anachronism and peculiarity of the Union of American States. After the Presidency of Andrew Jackson, when voting was restricted to only the most affluent 100 families in the Union, only 99 families were officially chosen as the hereditary voting class, the 100th family, named “Smith” for its commonality, provided a way for the 99 other families to occasionally admit another voter to the ranks by “declaring” them a member of the Smith family. In the arcane practice, any family was permitted to file a secret notice with the Secretary of Homeland nominating any “Smith” to be recognised formally as a member of the “Smith” family, thus granting them the rights otherwise denied to ordinary citizens of the Union. If the nominated person was acknowledged as a member of the “Smith” family by 10 other families in the official register, and opposed by none, they would be officially admitted into the voting class of citizenry in the Union, and subject to a number of other privileges that came along with it.