Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-10-19
~ YoRk eUasAu Of tLeotIoNs

VEW YUM bOhcAD OF tLEb iel''
The Department. That Has Good pes
10 Attend 10 About Election Time
General Theodore 7. Rolcnbough,
chief II tho bureau Of elections at 20
lice headquarters, may be said to run
It single handed. and with his left hand
at that. lie left his right arm with
army surgeons In September, 1861, at
Winchester The bureau was estab
liahod In the police department In lsi9
u. B llasbfouck wns the first chief,
John J. O'Brien tho second and he
was succeeded by tho present lncnm
bent While the work Of the buraau
Aas Increased, It's clerical force yet con
sist. Of i've patrulmen detailed 10 cler'
teal duty at patrolmen's salaries. Pc
freeman Henry Ilildenbrand, of the
central office squad, supplies the right
hand that tho omlablc chief lacks.
The bureau takes charge Of the ma.
chlnory and personnel Of elections,
from the hiring Of district quarters to
the swearing Ia OF the election oiiicers
Dpary routine chamctorizes the Labor
of the chief aud the clerks from Janu
ary TO August, and Il Is Mechanically
active the rest Of tho year. When these
eruptlve periods are on, no one In the
bureau has a sinccurc.
Among the lnbofs and duties Of the
bureau arci To provide all the station
cry for tho election oillcer8--inspoctor
poll clerks and ballot clerks; to give
them the special and ordinary instruc.
lions TO enable them to steer clear OF
trouble aud to perform their duties sat
isiactodly. to prepare tho lists Of cleo.
ton officers fot tho action Of the board
Of police, examining into the personal
fitness and character Of each indlvid
ual; TO provide certificates !or those
who ARE selected aud TO qualify
them or swear them into office; to
ascertain Oh days OF registry and
election n all the election officers are
present at cnch polling OF registration
place, and 10 see that all vacancies ere
promptly filled; 10 receipt for all re.
ports, registers and returns filed after
the registration b completed; TO pre-.
pare leases for polling plac, ; to see,
after election, that all regis r. and re-
turns have been filled up In accordance
with the law, TO summon those who
have erred 10 correct their mistakes; 20
stamp the rt,ilcntcs Of such election
officers which have done their duty and
nrc Therefore exempt from jury duty;
TO record the deaths Of al mnlo persons
over twenty one; 10 keep record OF
convictions iur felony, and to aid In
tabulating tho election returns on cleo
tion night Tho last named employ
m-it is moro of n courtesy 60 the do
sire Of ihr public aud tho police com
mlssioupr 30 know tho results than a
duty No count thus made has any
lcgnl o. official weight or value
The bureau Ina also to DO prepared
TO make diagrams OF tho city for cleo
ton purposes, aud 20 scrutinizo the
registry from each house 20 rs TO be
prepared to furnish information for ~
'districtlng In order to keep the voters in
each election district down 10 the limit
prescribed by law The pny rolls Of
tho election officers have 10 DO prepared
for the comptroller
An idea Of what tho bureau has to
do when Il is busy with live election
work may be had from the statistics OF Ia
operation under the ballot reform law.
In 1890 there were 1856 election OH.
GERS who did duty, and about 900 per
sons chosen TO such offices resigned.
As each officer Is mined ten times on
reports and In other ways, some 10000
names were written on this account
/ alone.
There were Il, 1000, 900 ballots pre-
pared, corrected, received, checked OIL,
done up into 9i7 packages aud dis
trihuted aud Mt least CO.OOO package.
OF stationery, ink, pens mucilagc,
books and forms oaths were admin.
lstorol 20 more than 5000 election OF.
ilcers. % per cent Of whom served. and
the characters and qualifications OF
/ 1901 persons were inquired into aud
reported ou. New York Times.