, 1886-11-30
GREAT salrAlN's BALLOT SYSTEM


An Outline sketch of the english Law
Counting Me yotcs-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 a
ballot. The election officers procure the
printing of the requisite number of bal
lots, which are bound in the same way
as a merchants check book; that is to
say. there is a coupon which may be de-
tached, leaving a 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-
sents himself at the polls, he first salts
fies the presiding officer that he is a
legal voter. The latter then tears off n
ballot. upon the back Of which he puts
an official stamp, after which he enters
the registered number of the ~elector on
the retained part of the ballot, or IL
t%erfoil, and makes a mark against the
name of the voter on the registry.
The voters and ballots both being
numbered. in case 1t become necessary
10 ascertain how any particular person
has voted, as, for instance, if there is a
contest IN the ground Of illegal voting,
the identical ballot given by each person
may be found and examined. The
voter. having received his ballot, retires
to a room provided for the purpose,
where, unseen by any person, he makes
IA mark opposite the name of the person
for whom he wishes to vote. He then
folds the paper SO as to conceal the
printing md mark within, but to show
the official stamp on the back, returns to
the polling room and throws the ballot
into the box. To use the words of Mr..
Webster in quite another connection:
"Thc Iced is done. No eye has seen
him; no ear has heard him. His secret
is his own, and it is safe" He is
obliged to keep it a secret, too. There is
n serious penalty attached to h exhibi-
ton Of n ballot after it is marked. The
man may tell any one how he voted
and he may tell a lie-but no can no
whether he has told the truth or a 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 ms that of n certain man. There
is an infinite variety of detail in the reg
u%lations respecting the acts to be done,
and there are quite as many prohibitions
of things that must not be done before,
during and 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 as they expected it to be;
Liberals do not like it 80 well as they
supposed they should; and the horde Of
agents. at whose occupation it was
meant to be II severe blow, are already
finding ways to circumvcnt the nice con
trivances of the act.-"B. c. NJ" in
Brooklyn Eagle.