The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1886-12-02
THE CANADIAN WAY

vi voting 1t eleetlonS has recently
come uider' our notice, both from
interviews Had dBoa the subject with
several Sitizeds ST Bottiasau W.xeii
III h8H all artig1e which appeared III
alats issue Of the St. Paul pioneer
Press, edtitlsd "Uaikorm Ballots. "
That tRa system which prevails in
Canada has many advantages, cannot
be denied aud it is gratifying to see
the subject agitated' by such a man as
Henry George of New York, who will
doubtless seek to engraft it Oh the
election laws of that State:
1t seems to have originated kfn
Australia and Is the one also in force
IN England:
For the information of those of bur
readers unacquainted with it., We cjpy
what the Pioneer Press says of it:
It requires the tame Of ali the candi-
dates nominated for each Office to be upon
the same tickst, and these tickets to be
printed and issued under the supervision
Of the stkts.. Among. tho many advances
which may be made, Is, matter Of detail,
hpon even our best methods of conducting
elections. this easily holds first. place. A
nultitude Of arguments array themselves
IN its favor, as'sgsinst the present delirium
ef split tickets, fraudulent headings; devi.
bes to destroy secrecy, aud armies Of ped
alsrs employed by all the candidates to
Peddle private ballots and pastors. 1t it.
pertain that many thousands Of votes, which
uay b cal I'd frsudulent.iu one sense, vel.
cast 1t the last election in this state.
Voters were deceived. by ballots bearing
sne party heading aud the names of the
candidates Of the other; by misspelleu
psmes Or > t~rsnsposition of names anu
" cos; by the name Of ono candidate sand
rished in somewhere out Of iight' of the
bcrstcher; by the ininity Of devices, which
fnen and parties invent to win a vote. Ali
this would b. done sway with by tie
Australian mAtksd,. ,,'Y -.
3: The government state Or county, print.
ths tickets, each containing ail the names
10 be voted for. The voter scratches. Oft the
pkfhss Of candidates to whom. he il opposed
Snd leaves those of his choice. 1t calls fol
fhe s~zsrci,e Of Intelligent choice, instead o,
the msrp dspQsitins Of i. real or supposed
straight psrty"ticket. 1T d~ispenses Will
TIE workers who are ,soy,such q nuisance
II tho polls. It4protectj che secrecy Of the
ballot which ~is.suppossd to be sfsush grea,
Importance. While our law pr9~idesAba,
sll ballots shall bs Of plain white paper.
without distinguishing marks, the fact it
Chat there Ire 10 many shades ahd widths
Ind textures answering to the general
description that e.ah'party generally knows
perfectly ,whetht" the ticket handed ,ig.sb,
the votertseme from . Republican, or . Dem
sera.ic rttssss. Privacy. honesty, in..lligsac..
Ill would be most powerfully assisted b,
the sntirsly u.iobjeetiQnhbis practice Of re.
quirings uniform s1ot printed by the
state. It is evident, ths more our moderp
elections are viewed in . practical way.
thsA;grest changes in election practice and
machinery ere requisite, 1t will probsbl;
b. necessary to ckll in the aid Of the law i'll
Sscuring honest primaries, ~ has alread.!
been done IN some states. More thoroug.
methods lot registration and c~anvassins
asked for or adopted by both parties.
What is said above concerning
Minnesota is. equally applicable to
Dakota, and one,of' the first, matter
to the attention of which our nexs,
should be called, is the
e~dvisabiIity Of ENGRAVING upon the
Of our Territory, the Australian
method or in other words "the good
old Canadian way" Of exercising the
elective franchise. ''>