Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-01-30
A surREMELY IMPORTANT MArrER.

A sUrREMELY IMPORTANT MATTER.
The San Francisco 4lta calls halt for
more thoughtful consideration of the pro-
posed election law. We agree with our
contemporary that il is best in all such
matters to make haste slowly, and in this
instance to turn ever and about every
feature of the bill and seratinize it criti-
cally. The measure is not to be taken off
hand; 1t is open to criticism, and is sus-
ceptible of improvement; wherever its
joins can be penetrated, the weakness in
Its armor must be refaedied. The chief
errors which we havefou are the NUM-
bering of the ballots, the clerical indorse-
ment of the ballot at The time of its de-
livery to the voter, and the retention of
the present pethod'of selecting officers of
election boards. In these objections the
-dtd joins. AS thevoter is to receive his
ballot only from these clerks, that fact
puts into their hands a great power and
inseparable from it will be the temptation
TO misuse it. These clerks should, there
fore, be chosen with greatest care. Why
the bill may not be amended to provide for
their selection, under challenge, by Boards
of Superior Judges or by some other than
the present method, we cannot understand.
The Aha discovers but little virtue in
requiring the ballots to be printed at pub,
lie expense. Perhaps it is not great
economy. 1t is,not, however, in money!
saving that the greater worth of that pro-
vision lies, but.in the right it guarantees
the rejected man" to run for Office.
Under the present system, if convention
rejects an aspirant, he cannot help his am
bition, or appeal to the people, except he
is able to pay for some thousands of ballots
and maintain scores of hired ballot-ped-
dlers to present his ticket to voters. This
efectually bars out" the man of limited
means. But beyond this, the printing of
the ballots by lawful authority insures uni
formity, and precludes the possibility of
stuffing the ballot-boy, except by collision
along the whole line of the election board
at each polling place and perhaps of the
county officials. For, if to every board
there is issued given number of ballots,
previously identified by such device or in
dorsement as may be adopted, aud these
are bound in stub-booR form, the ballots in
the box must correspond precisely
with the ballots torn from the
stub-book. Right here we call
attention to what is evidently inadvertent
omission in the bill-the failure to pro-
vide for the certifcation back of the stub
book to the custodian of the ballots. poll
lists and tally-sheets, and the preservation
OF the same along with the other docu-
ments of the Board
Our San Francisco contemporary doubts
the wisdom of eliminating the solicitation
OF voters by candidates and candidates
agents at the polls, and thinks that it will
do away with the voluntary appearance at
the polling-places of men, who, desiring
the success of a ticket come out to labor
with their neighbors and induce them to
vote it. 1t is not made clear by our con-
temporary how the conservation of the
secrecy of the ballot by abolishing the
ticket-peddler prevents or tends TO discour
age missionary work at the polls On the
contrary, it appears TO us that the very
fact that the voters ballot cannot be
spotted" by the dealer in votes from the
time of delivery 50 the voter until he puts
1t IN the box, will stimulate men to wrestle
with their fellows TO convince them of the
claims of the candidates whose election
they advocate, since they will be encour-
aged by the reflection that the boss cannot
assure the delivery of goods he NAV
have bought
A secret ballot is desirable" says the
Alta. 1t should be more strongly stated :;
the phrase is weak ssntil it is made to read
A secret ballot is absolutely essential to
an honest, free and fail expression of the
voters WILL" This us not attained while
II is possible for striker" or "peeler.D
or hireling of the bosses to seize upon a
voter, thrust a ticket into his hand and
cling to him until he has deposited the bal
lot-a scene that Is repeated scores of times
at every polling-place in the lard. Under
the proposed system the voter goes into
the polling booth and votes his ticket
without any possibility of being KEEP
under COW by any political agent, or under
surveillance by ticket peddler