The case against Snowden

When was the election that placed Edward Snowden in the exalted position of Higher Guardian of the American People? I, for one, don't remember voting in such a contest. But there must have been one, and Snowden must have won it handily, since otherwise the arguments being marshaled in favor of pardoning him for leaking a mountain of classified information to journalists, who promptly published a large portion of it, make no sense at all.