St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-12

/ The style Of booth required under the
election law governing cities of over
10000 inhabitants in this state is, neces-
sarlly. clumsy sort of an affair. AS to
booths the law says:
'Ihere shall be provided in the room
in which the judges of election sit, OF
Immediately adjoining thereto, not less
imam two booths or compartments for
every hundred voters registered, so con-
structed that the voter can retire from
observation and mark his ballot. Each
compartment shall be provided with a
door OF curtain SO that the voter while
preparing the ballot may be shielded
from observation.
In Boston, where practically the same
law is liz operation, the requirement as
to booths is that the voter shall be
screened from the observation of the
man in the adjoining booth while mark
ing his ballot. He remains in sight of
the judges of election all the time.
Under that provision long shelf is
put up against the wall and divided by
upright partitions into stalls large
enough to accommodate one man. The
same system is in vogue in Wisconsin.
That makes the cost of election much
less than in Minnesota cities.
Now as to voting: Election day, I'M
der the Australian law, will be very
like some holiday. No more will the
voter manipulate plain black and white
tickets about which there clingS not a
suggestion of art or poetry or patriot
ism. The ballots to be cast OH the 4th
OF November will be of the color of the
national banner-red, white and blue.
Nor will the enthusiastic .'heeler" and
striker" and "plugger" and .'lieu-
tenant" stand on the corner and at the
nto + br
tickets of the men who have given them
the most influence" The judges alone
will have charge of tickets. Nor will
any ballot be counted unless upon it
there is mark by which it can be iden-
titled as one of the original ballots and
not ringer" How is it done. Very
simply.
The free American citizen, about to
exercise his inalienable right. ap-
proaches the three watch-dogs of the
ballot-boX, the Judges, and meekly asks
to be allowed to vote. He is given three
ballots. Upon the white one are printed
the names of all the men of all parties
who are running for state Offices. The
blue ticket bears the names of all the
nominees for county offices, and also the
congressional, judicial and state sena-
torlal and representative candidates,
with exceptions to be noted later. On
the red ballot are the names of all the
city candidates. As the Judge of cleo
ton passes these ballots to the voter he
marks upon the back of each his own
initials, so that the ticket may be recog-
nized later. Then the voter goes into
the little booth, splits on the pencil and
marks his ticket. If he wishes to vote
straight Democratic ticket he places a
cross opposite the name of the first
Democratic candidate on the ballot. and
let's it go at that. If he wishes to vote
q split ticket he puts cross opposite
the name of each man for whom he de-
sireS to vote. He does that, with all
fhree ballots; then folds them up
IN such shape that the initials
of the judge on the backs of them are
to be seen plainly, land returns them to
the judges. who drop them into three
boxes. Red tickets go into red box.
white ones into white box, and blue
ones into a box of the same azure tint.
This marking of the backs of ballots
renders it necessary that every judge of
election know how to read and write.
The voters, who, for the past ten or
twenty or thirty or forty years have
been accustomed to handling little
white pieces of paper not more than
2x4 in size, will be surprised when they
receive ballots from the judges on cleo
ton day which would make good yard
measures. A three-foot ticket seems
odd, but it will be reality. Some of
the ballots may be even longer than
that. Already there are seventy-6ve
names filed with the city clerk to be
| printed upon the city ticket. which is
already over three feet long. Think
what will be the size of the county tick
ct with ali the county, congressional,
J judicial and state legislative tickets