The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-12-15
GREAT BRITAlN's BALLOT SYSTEM
An Outline Sketch OF tho English Law
Counting tho cs-SccrcCy

An Outline Sketch OF tho English Law
Counting tho Votes Secrecy.
1t is impossible to describe briefly the
ballot system adopted in Great Britain
in 1872, and only an outline sketch can
be given. The public nomination is
abolished, but the nomination day is
preserved, the ceremony taking place in
the presence Of only a few designated
persons. If only as many candidates
are nominated as are to be elected, they
are at once declared elected. If there
are more candidates, there must be q
ballot. The election officers procure the
printing of the requisite number of bal
lots, which are bound in the same way
as n merchants check book; that is to
gay, there is a coupon which may be de-
tachcd, leaving q part of the leaf still in
the book. Upon the ballots are printed
the names of all the candidates in alpha
betical order. When the elector pre-
scnts himself at the polls, he first salts
ties the pre-, ding officer that he is o
legal voter, The latter then tears off u
ballot, upon the back of which he puts
an official staD,p, after which he enters
the registered number of the elector on
N"S SNoFiNS Il "a llIS tallOi, VI ~
~terfoil, ard makes a mark against tho
name OF the voter on the registry.
The voters and ballots both being
numbered, in case it become necessary
TO ascertain how any particular person
has voted. us, for instance, if there is n
contest on the ground Of illegal voting,
the identical ballot given by EACH person
NAV he found and examined. The
V-.c., having received his ballot, retires
10 a room provided for the purpose,
where, unseen by any person, he makes
q mark opposite the name of the person
for whom he wishes to vote. He hen
folds the paper 81 as to conceal the
printing and mark within, but to show
the official stamp on the back, returns to
the polling room and throws tho ballot
into the box. To use tho words of Mr..
Webster il quite another connections:
"The deed is done. No eye has seen
him; no car has heard him. His secret
Is his own, and it il safe" lie is
oh'i""' to keep it n secret, too. There is
a sv,"". ,rnalty attached to the exhibi-
ton Of - ballot after it is marked. The
man may tell any one how he voted
and he may tell n lie-but no one can no
whether he has told the truth or q false
hood.
When the ballots are counted no one
but the presiding officer can possibly
known one paper from the other, and it
is crediting him with an extraordinary
memory to suppose that he could keep
in mind the two numbers that must be
remembered in order to identify any
ballot as that of a certain man. There
ID an infinite variety of detail in the reg
ulations respecting the acts to be done,
and there are quite as many prohibitions
OF things hat must not be tone before,
during n after the polling, but into
none of these can we enter. The law
has had fourteen years trial. and it is
not only telling the exact truth to say
that the Conservatives do not find it
nearly so bad AZ they expected it to be;
Liberals do not like it SO well as they
supposed they should; and the horde Of
agents, at whose occupation it was
meant to be Il severe blow, are already
finding ways to circumvent the nice con-
%trivances of tho act.-"B. c.. NJ" in
BROOKLYN Eagle.