The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-09-01

struction posted at once in each voting
shelf and notices. than five specimen bal
lots are at once posted in OF about the
polling room, outside the guard rails
The clerk retains the second set of bal
lots, unless demand in writing is made
for them by the presiding officer, when
he supplies them as he did the first. In
case ballots are not sent to your town, or
are destroyed or lost after they have been
received, the town clerk or selectmen
may cause ballots of the same general
form to be printed; and uphn state
ment of these facts by him or them I'M
der oath the election officers shall cause
such ballots to be substituted.
Keeping in mind the facts thus far
stated, we now come to
Other Important Oficials,
namely, the election clerks. By election
clerks we mean both election officers
proper, and ballot officers. Four of these
clerks are appointed by the municipal off
GERS biennially in May, in each town of
over one thousand inhabitants lin all
wards of cities) and two clerks in towns
| Of less than one thousand inhabitants.
Two of the clerks, in case there are four
! and both of the clerks, in case there
are two, are detailed by the municipal
! officers to act as ballot clerks. Ballot
clerks have charge of the ballots. These
officers must be sworn. assume that
| the election officers of this town have
been properly appointed and qualified.
At this point the question of the select
men arises. They act at elections as
they always have acted, to wit, preside,
have charge of the check list in the box,
| decide questions as to qualifications of
voters, sort, count and declare the votes;
in short, do as they always have done for
the past hundred years. But they have
certain additional duties to perform:
| First: they must prepare a duplicate
check list of the qualified voters in the
| town for the use of the ballot clerks.
The existing laws about preservation,
preparation and furnishing Of check lists
apply to this duplicate list.
Second: They cause the polling place
| to be suitably provided with scficient
number of voting shelves or compart-
ments for the marking of ballots. These
must be constructed so that the voter. in
marking his ballot, may be screened
from the observation of others, and a
guard rail must be SO constructed and
placed that only such persons as are in
| side the rail can approach within six feet
! of the ballot box and of the voting
| shelves or compartments. The ballot
| box and voting shelves must not be hid
| den from the view of those just outside
the guard rail. The number of voting
| shelves or compartments must not be
less than one for every hundred qualified
voters, not less than three in a town
land not less than five in any ward of a
city, Have enough of these shelves
better have five too many than one less
than is necessary.
Third: No person, beside the election
officers, and voters properly admitted for
the purpose Of voting, are allowed inside
the guard rail, except
BY Authority of the Selectmen,
for the purpose of keeping order and en-
forcing the law.
Fourth: The municipal officers must
keep each voting shelf provided with
proper supplies and conveniences for
marking the ballots.
Fifth: They must not allow more
than two voters in excess of the number
Of voting shelves or compartments pro-
vided to vote in the enclosed space at
one time.
With the selectmen and town clerk in
the desk with the check list, the election
clerks in charge of the duplicate check
list. and the ballot clerks in charge of
the ballots, the booths erected and the
guard rail set, we are now ready for
the voter himself. And whatever
opinion you may have about the
work of the officers whose duties
we have noticed there can be but
one Of the work of the voter. A
little child can perform it. The voter
enters the polling room, and advances to
the entrance, burt stands outside the
guard rail, and gives his name land if
required, his residence) to one of the
ballot clerks. The ballot clerk repeats |
the name in loud and distinct tone
of voice, and if the name is found on |
the check list by the ballot officer hav-
ing charge thereof he repeats the said |
name and the voter enters the space |
enclosed by the guard rail.
If you want
To Challenge Mans Vote
this is the place and the time to do it.
The ballot clerk then gives him one
and only one ballot and his name is
Immediately checked on Che list.
This ballot when thu voter receives it
is folded the same way it must be folded |
when he deposits it in the ballot box,
The voter now has his ballot. He takes
it, and without leaving the enclosed
space land he cannot leave the space
with ballot in his possession) retires
alone to one of the voting shelves, UNI
folds his ballot and there marks it by
making a cross as follows:
LIST. He places such mark opposite the
name of party or political designation,
in which case he has voted for all of the