The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-10-15
SOME OF THE OBJECTIONS.

~ So "ss
system, the caption on the official bal
lot il "a sure defense against several
possible openings for ballot frauds to
which reference has been made in mag
aZines and newspapers. The faith thus
put i'm the official stamp recalls one of
the most amusing incidents of last
election day. 1t will he remembered
tina Professor Moore, of this county,
sat i'm the territorial legislature last
winter. and that he was n of the
most ardent advocates of the .Austral-
an plan. His name was cOnspicuously
linked with the movement that gave
Montana it's now election law. 1t ap-
pears, also, that the Professor was one
of the judges at the Georgetown polls
on election day. When the count at
that place was pretty well advanced,
one of the precinct officers. threw out q
ballot with the remark that it was no
to he counted AZ it lacked the official
stamp. Professor Moore examined it
and then surprised his associates with
the exclamation, why, l declare. that's
vote!"
This little fable does not teach any
thing bearing directly on the point
raised by the newspapers to which we
nave referred. 1t shows, however, that
mistakes are possible: more than this
IL Yltlilly BIitICfttSS ~ V"Siy hssS
takes" may he made with deliberate
purpose. One Of the most intelligent
Of the precinct judges i'm this city, a
republican of very high standing, re-
marked at II o'clock on the morning Of
election day that up tn that hour, he
could have perverted the wish of the
voter i'm the choice of members of the
legislature i'm at least thirty instances,
without slightest risk of detection.
His comment was that under this sys-
tenn, especially with u long ticket, a
DISHONEST Judge has the election OF de-
feat ~ some Of the candidates right i'm
his hands," Information which
the STANDARD is gathering for use
hereafter shows that the number Of
voters scattered over other precincts
of Montana who appealed to the
Judges to arrang their vote
is surprisingly large, and the proportion
Of such voters il great i'm some of h
quietiest and o respectable polls in
the territory. This feature must always
characterize our vote, unless the Judges
are robbed of their function and every
voter il compelled to mark his own
ballot: but this would practically es-
tablish Nh educational test which
ifestly h people of Montana do not
favor.
The STANDARD il in no sense dis
posed tn argue against h reform which
the system adopted i'm Montana aims to
promote. 1t may have its weak points,
however, and these should he studied
i'm n spirit not tinged with craftsmanship.
Some of our contemporaries assume
the official stamp affords ample
protection. yet the writer i'm h Forum
a that he Ina personal knowledge Of
the actual performance of the frau he
describes. The game lately described
by the Inter Mountain and al
ready mentioned in these col
umns il still easier to work.
All of us know hat II average judge
is hardly above the average of his fell
lows. If by any chance u man not of
immaculate type were to be appointed
Judge at any precinct in Montana, is 1t
not true that he may be u very import
ant and dangerous factor in. settling
the fate of candidates, AZ long as men
may vote who do not trust themselves
to mark a long ballot properly? And
is it not also true that i'm communities
of average political morality-in Mon
tana or New York or Massachusetts or
California, judges of that type always
stand a chance Of experimentation an
even chance. perhaps. but a good show
ing at leastr
In Sonnectlcut the voter gets MS
tickets where he pleases. but he enters
the precinct alone, receives an envelope
from the Judge, enters the booth en-
tirely unaccompanied, selects the tickets
Of his choice. and. sealing these in h
envelope. deposits il i'm the ballot box.
No judge fixes up this mans vote and
no outsider can tell what went into the
envelope. No interested outsider can
makes sure of the choice for the pur-
poses of vote purchasing, and the voter
himself need fear no coercion IL he fol
lows this simple plan. OF course, this
scheme has it's objections. but are they as
serious as those which may be urged
against the Montana plan?
Until recently il has been generally
supposed that police court records were
public property. 1t remained for the
authorities of Butte to adopt the pc
culiar method of locking up the rec
ords, for reasons best known to them
selves. This action Oh their part will
not meet with public approval. and
might lead an outsider to think that
there was something they desired to
hide.