Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1880-11-25
NEVADA ELECTIONS.

o. the Nevada election laws. 1t Is an artlcl
which will repay studious perusal:
There is no such thing as a secret ballot i,
this State. Our law pretends to give ever!
man the privilege of voting as his conscience
dictates, without the chance of anyone els'
knowing how he exercises this sacred right o.
American citizenship. This statute is a lie
upon it's face. 1t does not guarantee any
such privilege as it pretends. We are CHART
able enough to believe that the men who en-
acted this law thought it would protect the
individual voter The fact remains, however
that it does not. If it did would there be &c
much bulldosing and corruption at the polls
~ at present! No. Let as see where the
law is defective Passing over the matter Of
registration, which il in most places very ir.
regularly conducted, the ballot shall be con.
adhered The Law says:
The ballet shall. in color, size, form, and
texture, conform to the requirements set
forth in the proclamation of the County Com
,nissioners of each county.
This gives to the Commissioners of coun-
ty the power to order the use of tissue paper
or 40. pound book paper. The form of the
proclamation is generally that in printing the
ballots "a good quality of book paper shall
be used. Upon the question OF what con-
stitutes good quality of book paper, experts
would be liable to disagree, and if a contest
should be made on this point, hundreds of
ballots cast at the late election in this State
could be thrown out. The law continues:
The said ballot shall be free from marks,
characters, or device or thing that would en-
able any person to distinguish it by the back,
OF when folded from any ether legal ticket or
ballot
The tickets of both parties are seldom, if
ever, printed at the same office, and so there
is bat little chance of both getting the same
kind of paper. Within the experience of the
writer, in the seven or eight Nevada elections
that have taken place under his observation,
there never has been one at which he could
not at glance tell just what kind of ticket
man was voting, even were the ballot close
ly folded. This was on account of the differ
ent kinds of paper used by the different par
ties. The remedy for this is to have only
one kind of paper for all ballots. This could
be readily accomplished, as it is in California, |
by having some State officer designated by |
law supply the demand for all the counties. |
The printing of what are known as "split" !
tickets should be prohibited. A simple and |
effective way to reach this would be to in
struct the judges of election to throw out all
such ballots. The objection to split tickets
is that they frequently mislead the voter.
They are fraudulent and iniquitous. On this
head the Carson APPEAL says:
man who receives ticket headed with
the name of his party, and who is assured
that it is the straight one, votes it, only to
discover later in the day that he has voted for
.ne or two men running on the other ticket.
A candidate who cannot get Office in an open
handed, honorable way, Is clearly not the
choice of the people. Many are compelled to
resort to this methed because their opponents
adopt it, and others do it because it has been
70 long in vogue. The use of split tickets is
clearly deception, while the straight ticket
prevents no voter from scratching whom he
pleases.
With regard to the secrecy Immediately at
he ballot-box, something should be done. In
many places, under the present system, men
rnswn as "challengers" are permitted to
,tand at the window where the ballots are
delivered (although there is no law to warrant
'uch practice), and as general thing they
rave more to say about the reception or re-
lection of ballot than the inspectors them I
selves This nuisance should be abated. 1t
Q generally understood that no "electioneer-
ng" nor "ticket peddling" shall be demo with
n 100 feet of the polls, bat no clause forbid
ling it islte be found in the certified copy of
40 election law sent ont some time age BY the
Secretary Of State. The 1OO-fost rule should !
70 enacted and strictly enforced. The tel-
ewing, from the Reno Gazette, is worthy Of
Great Britain, Australia and Canada have
system Of voting by ballot which is abse. a
stely secret In those countries the voters I
re allowed to enter the polling place only one
1 . time. Every voter must procure his bal
OF from the presiding officer in the polling
lace. These are tho official ballots bearing G
he names and description of all the candid. Il
tes. The official ballots are all in the pcs. Q
essien of the presiding officer, and no other :
allsts are permitted to be used. To prevent
he use Of any other, the presiding officer
'laces his initials upon the ballot, and also
numbers it. The voter, on receiving his bal j.
st, is required to step into . private csm- !.
'artment and there mark with cross on his !:
,alet the names Of those candidate for whom
10 desires to vote. He then folds his