Definition
The doctrine of selection or election, in the context of chattel mortgage law, holds that when a mortgage instrument encumbers a specified number of items from a larger, undifferentiated pool — without identifying which particular items are subject to the lien — the mortgagee (the party receiving the mortgage as security) acquires the implied right to identify and select the specific items that will satisfy the mortgage. The doctrine arises from the practical necessity of giving legal effect to a security interest that would otherwise be unenforceable for indefiniteness.
The classic scenario: a debtor owns fifty head of cattle and executes a chattel mortgage covering twenty head of that description, without specifying which twenty. Rather than voiding the instrument for vagueness, courts applying this doctrine treat the mortgagee as implicitly authorized to make the selection. Once selection is made, those specific items become subject to the lien.
The doctrine is narrower than the general principle of election of remedies (choosing between inconsistent legal rights) and should not be confused with it. Here, "election" refers specifically to the act of identifying collateral from an undifferentiated class.
---
Common Confusion
The phrase "selection or election" in this doctrine uses the word "election" in an older, more literal sense — the act of choosing or picking out — rather than in the more common legal sense of choosing between inconsistent remedies. A researcher encountering "election" in a chattel mortgage dispute should determine which meaning applies before cross-referencing. The doctrine of election of remedies (waiver of one remedy by pursuing another) is a separate doctrine with its own body of law. The two share terminology but operate in entirely different legal frameworks.
---
Core Elements
For the doctrine of selection or election to apply, the following conditions are typically present:
1. A chattel mortgage (or analogous security instrument) encumbers a quantity of items from a larger pool.
2. The instrument describes the collateral by type, number, or general characteristics rather than by individual identification.
3. The mortgagor owns more items of the described type than the number mortgaged at the time of execution.
4. No other means of identifying the specific collateral is provided in the instrument or the surrounding circumstances.
When these conditions exist, the law implies an authority in the mortgagee to select the specific items that will constitute the secured collateral.
---
Why It Matters in Research
This doctrine is a creature of older chattel mortgage law and surfaces primarily in late nineteenth and early twentieth century cases involving agricultural property — livestock, harvested crops, and fungible goods. Researchers working in that period should be alert to the doctrine when reading opinions that seem to uphold facially vague security instruments without explanation.
Modern secured transactions law under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code substantially changed the landscape. UCC Article 9 permits after-acquired property clauses and allows collateral to be described by category, which reduces the practical need for judicial selection doctrines. Whether the doctrine survives in any jurisdiction as independent common law is a question requiring current jurisdiction-specific research; it should not be assumed to apply in any modern secured transactions dispute without verification.
Researchers should also be careful when using historical digests and indices. The doctrine may appear under "chattel mortgage," "election," "selection," or "collateral — identification of," depending on the source and era. Bouvier's is the primary historical dictionary source covering this doctrine explicitly; other general legal dictionaries of the period often subsume it under broader chattel mortgage discussion without naming it as a distinct doctrine.
The connection to general election-of-remedies doctrine in contract and equity law is terminological only. Do not conflate the two when building a research trail.
---
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's Law Dictionary provides the foundational statement of this doctrine, describing the scenario in which a chattel mortgage covers a number of cattle of a certain description without specifying the particular cattle, and the mortgagor owns more of the kind described than the number mortgaged. Bouvier's characterizes this as implying an investiture of the grantee with the right to select the stated number or quantity — and names this the "doctrine of selection or election."
Bouvier's treatment is brief but precise, and its framing tracks the core judicial rationale: courts were reluctant to void security instruments on indefiniteness grounds when the parties clearly intended a valid encumbrance and a practical mechanism for resolution existed. What Bouvier's does not address — and what later legal development required — was how this implied selection right interacted with competing creditors, bona fide purchasers, or bankruptcy trustees. Those questions are answered only by case law, not by the dictionary sources available in the Law Mind corpus.
No other historical dictionary in the current corpus covers this specific doctrine by name.
---
Jurisdictional Note
This doctrine developed in common law jurisdictions applying pre-UCC chattel mortgage law. Its continued vitality varies by state. In jurisdictions that have fully displaced common law chattel mortgage doctrine through UCC Article 9 adoption, the doctrine may have no independent application. Researchers working on pre-UCC historical materials should treat the doctrine as operative within its era; researchers working on modern secured transactions should verify whether any residual common law doctrine survives in the relevant jurisdiction.
---
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Defenses — Waiver and Election of Remedies (The Law Mind Contracts & Commercial Law Encyclopedia)
Remedies — Overview and Election of Remedies (The Law Mind Contracts & Commercial Law Encyclopedia)
---