Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-12-06
The Ballot in England.

denomination, will probably be elected
The Ballot in England.
The first general trial Of the ballot in England,
after many years of wrangling over its intro
duction, was had at the municipal elections,
which took place throughout England and
Wales on the first Monday in November The
ballot act passed by parliament provides for
method of voting quite different from our sim
pie and informal fashion. A voting ticket CON
tanning the names of oil the candidates of both
parties is supplied by the sheriFs officer to each
voter after he enters the polling BOOTH lie
must use this icket and no other. In private
box, secured from observation, he makes
cross against or upon the names OF the
candidates for whom he wishes to vote,
and then deposits his ballot in the box,
1t is intended that the voting shall be alto
gether secret, and that no one shall know, until
the votes are finally counted and the result de-
clared, how the candidates stand in relation to
each other. This want of knowledge was ex-
pected to prevent the evil of violent
and corrupt electioneering methods while the
election is in progress by the party
which found itself in danger of defeat
The politicians have already found means of
defeating some of the precautions provided by
the act, although it has not been tried long
enough to develop all its capabilities
Illiterate voters must, of course, have help in
making up their tickets, so that their voting can
not be altogether secret, and they sometimes
make bad choice of advisers, who contrive to
have them vote otherwise than they intend OF
those who are not absolutely jterate some prove
to be SO densely stupid that they can not or will
not understand the plain printed directions on
the ticket, and persist in Crossing Off the can
didates whom they dislike, instead Of those
whom they wish to elect. The story is told of
au eectioneering agent in the Conservative"
interest who greatly helped his candidates by
avaing himself of this weakness of the British
voter. Seeing stolid looking eector marching
to the polls he would accost him with the in
quiry whether he was a liberal or a conserva-
tive. II the answer was, GA liberal, he would
reply, GAN right; be sure You cross off the con-
sentative chaps then" The unsuspecting cleo
tor would follow this insidous advice and thus
contribute his share to swell the vote of the
party he wished to defeat.
=
was declared every half hour, to the great con.
venience of political managers, who knew by
this means when 10 bring up their reserves and
when there was need of supreme effort to OBJ
struet, intimidate or purchase the tagging
voters. 1t was intended that the method of
voting by secret ballot should prevent the ac-
QUESTION of this kind of useful knowledge; but
the ingenuity of politicians frustrated in some
measure this worthy purpose. The first ballot
election for a member of parliament al Preston
preceded by some weeks the municipal elections
of November, and there the conservative COM
mittee adopted device by which they were
able TO know the exact state of the ballot at
any time during the day. They had a num-
Der of blue tickets printed and supplied
each OF their electors with one of them, and
each, as he passed away, having deposited his
vote, handed his blue ticket to a man stationed
there to receive them, and distinguished by
blue ribbon around his hat The blue tickets
showed the number of conservative votes, and
count Of the persons who passed out without
tickets, indicated the liberals, This worked
admirably at Preston, and it was tried again in
November; but the liberals had heard of it, and
had various methods of defeating the
trick. In one place the liberals supplied
many of their voters with counterfeit
blue tickets, which were handed, like the
genuine ones, to the man with the blue ribbon,
who was thus sadly misled as to the number of
conservative votes cast At another place the
radicals adorned one of their men with blue
ribbon and stationed him where he could claim
the tickets and thus confuse the count; at
another uon-voters were passed into the polling
house, who, going out without tickets, were
counted as liberals, and gave the impression that
that party had much more than its actual
Strength.
These are among the humors of the ballot in
ngland. So far, the evils or Inconvenience
involved in the system do not seem to be for
midable; whether any of them will prove suffi.
GENTLY so TO make changes desirable, longer
experience of its operation will determine