Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1890-12-08
4 AlGHTT CLEVER PLAN.
A'ooat asman lateilieesce Of q ua'
calae That Will Net Allow Q Voter
to Make . Mistake II Marking His
V0f~

Letters patent have been recently
issued to X. Douaan OF Missoula.
Non. for an invention that promises
to revolutionize the manner Of mark.
ing and ca"vassing ballots and entirely
do away with the pr-seat objections
Of the Australian system. Under the
present system the ballots are Rener-
ally very large in order to have plenty
OF room for eros. es opposite the names
Of the chosen candidates, and still
mary men make the crosses between
the names or cross out the names OF
the candidates they do not desire to
vote for, thus fr+q"en tlv disfrsn chis,ng
themselves, in part at least, and Civ
ing ground. for disagreement among
the judges. Mr.. Douean's invention
obvistes all these difficulties. The
ballot is small, private booths are not
needed. the vote Of the largest pres
cincs is tailed a. the votes are cast
and may b- read from dial minute
after the polls close; the ballots are
perfectly secret, aud the count correct.
And still! this result is accomplished
without any innovation on our prese ut
system. so far as tho voter is con.
cernrd, save that he makes a'perfora.
tiun in his ballot where he now makes
a cross, and is prevented fr,m making
it anywhere except opposite . candi.
dates name.
In order that voters may easily and
accurately make these per:ora,ions
each polling place is provided with a
number Of devices called ballot hold.
cr., consisting simply Of two per.
forsted strips Of wood, between which
the ballot is held while being perfor>
at~d. These .trips are about one.
fourth an inch thick, All inch wide,
and Of any length rrquired--ss II or
Is inches. They are hinged together
few inches from one end. tho part
back Of the hinge forming the handle
by which it is held, while at the other
end there is fastening Tor holding
the stri ps together while the bxlIo, is
between them. The perfor~tions il, the
ballot holder correspond with the
names on the ballot, and each holder
is provided with an instrument for
making the perforxtions.
When the voter has made out his
ballot, he hands it, in tho holder, t,
ons Of the judges who places i, in the
v.te registering machine. For each
perforation in the ballot holder there
is in this machine q correspon ling
vertically moving needle, each needle
having \" independent movement.
These ne-dles are Of about the size
and length of a common sewing ma
chine needle and are formed on the
lower ends Of strips OF steel ahou, IL
inches Icing and Of about the width,
thickness and temper of an ordinary
case knife. The ends of the needles
instead Of being sharp are blunt.
They have movement of about one
and one fourth inches. and for each
needle there is corresponding regis.
teri"g mechanism. They are raised
and lowered by the turning of u
crank, half turn allowing them all
to 20 down aud another half turn
bringing them all up.
When the ballot, in tho holder, is
placed in the machine, che peforstions
in it are di. ectly beneath the needl,s.
The judge turns crank and each
needle having u petforation beneath
it goes down, while the Others remain
up. supported by the ballot. When
the crank has made half turn there
are "erdles down for al perforA,ions
in the ballot, or, in other words, for
all candidates voted for. and needles
up for all candidates not voted for.
The further turning of the crank
forces tho needles that are down
against their corresponding registering
mechsnisns, thus registering a vote
for each candidate having a pesfora
ton opposite his name. The ballot u.
then Withdrawn from this machine
and in s,niiar manner registered in
another like machine from which It j.
Withdrawn, aud while it is still in the
holder, inserted in the ballot box. A
knob o" top Of the box is pressed, tho
ballot caught and held, tho fastening
on the end Of the holder loosened, and
the holder is Withdrawn, leaving ,hs
ballot in the box. The machine
would seem to b. possessed Of human
intelligence f"r It will no. register i'm.
proper or illegal votes. Should there
BE- a number # cand,dn,es for The
same office and = vet r through mis.
take, ignorance or desiv'., votes foe
more than one of them. the machine
will not register any votes on that
ballot for that Office. but will register
ali the OfhoP vck.s neoro.1,, n..s r..