Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-10-04

The Tlr-f rrst iu NiurIanp l. a Very saiis-
iHrt"rF oHr.
Iri,a 'art worthy of mention that
ilr.ts', pra--, with one ccord. uur;es
ip IRA OF tue Australia ballot sy.-
te;n, Never heCor" in rh- history uf
MoH'aUa IA rbere been - b quiet
aud d,Fy I,ruor, aEu though 1t
WIS feared o0d .p .cna dr.ree suricl.
pttyl t.ut the lsN1p-s element sus me
o' the larger c0tis- iu the stale, wruld
prove refractory and aliempl 10 over
ride the law, m -urh trouble occurred
and the elect on ,yerywhsra w9s "A
wo@,l of order ard guipt. At Ml,s
IWN theuUWicr n Frtes TOlIet--tt rec
hundred uud niutty-would cuusri-
tute 10 t~ a max mum polling plsc-
u.H.r tue lr", which fixss 400 1s tie
ml&imgm uuml er Ol votes 20 hs re-
caivri g any ous precinct, Two
iudne. WIZ" drtH .el 10 ,'aTp ,ua de-
liver he b.liut- o. me clrg'uIs, aud AZ
another Table three more judges and
two clerks received the uallot after
having Ueeu marked by the elect m,
derO-ited il IN thu box ard kept the
tally 9th, V its- ca-t on the poll lst.
No'iug seemed TO proceed - eTpsdI-
tIuu-ly a. under he old system: HE
iu6gp- and clerks being relieved 81 the
noise ana confusion heretofore u,ual
nn ,urh ccca,ipps. were ruab'ep 10 set
quickly snt IliEent'y, aud the few
who required all or inst uclion ia
?Ieparinga ballot were accommodated
wlih,Ut retaTdiDg the procedure Of
voting. When the votes were cam
vas ed by the judges, ouly five ballots
out Of three hundred aud ninety were
found tu he faulty. One of these was
subsequently, sgreed upon as fair, and
tie remaining four were declared VOID,
II being impossible to Interpret the
intent Of the voter from the appear
ance Of the ballot. so that on tie
first trial of the Australian system
with a maximum polling LIST only one
per ceUt. cf the voters made serious
errors in preparing their ballots. Such
a record is truly surprising and unex-
pecled, and most etfectually disposes
Of the greatest objection that has oeen
urged against the law, viz: that 1t was
cumbersome in its working, and fruit
ful of error. Moreover, it was found
in counting the votes, that there wa-a
great deal less liability OF the Judges
misapprehending the wishes of the
voter than under the old system where
the voter scratched, pasted aud put in
writing The names of his choice. I'm
less man was good writer, and pre-
pared his ballot with some care, there
was always q degree Of uncertainty in
regard TO the counting Of scratched
ballots. This Is happily done away
with hy the Australian ballot, which
contains the uemes Of all candidates,
aud ON which no scratching is neces-
sarv, though If we were asked TO indi
cate how IN our opinion the Australian
ballot could be improved, we should
say, Ly instructing the elector TO
scratch or mark out the name Of the
candidate he does not wish to vote for,
thus ieVl ing on the ticket only the
names of those for whom he does wish
10 vote. II is more in accord with the
general idea Ia scratch" the man you
don't want, than IL is 10 mark the
cross against the man you do want.
some Of the ballots rejected In the
counting on Tuesday night, had been
scratched instead OF cross.marked
and although IL seem, plain that The
yo'er.intendsd 10 vote for the name be
left m the ticket, 1t WAS decided TO bee
impossible to arrive st his intention,
and the votes were therefore lost.
Such small percentage OF error
however, hardly appieoisble and the
correct handling Of the ballot by nine
ty-niue men out Of every hundred
that voted Is an undoubted assurance
OF It's success a. voting ~ stem, TO say
nsthing Of the increased order and
quiet maintained IN and about the
polls. II " very evident thvt the
Australian system has come to stay,
and that even democratic legislature
from which Heaven deteUd US
would not dare 10 repeal or hsmper u
In any way.