The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-03-30


During the past ten years there
has been much agitation in sasor Of
reform IN methods Of voting, and
ues ssssems hare been introduced
IN many States. They hare now
progvsssed So Tar indeed IS 10 hare
perfected = machine for soting.
which il said 10 be simple and well
adapted = the psrpo~r In s'iew. The
following description j. given Of II
By the New York Post:
The machines are enclosed in sheet.
iron booths. about flse fs-et square.
Tn one side are two doors. one Eus
entrance and the other for exit. The
voters are formed in line. and are
admitted one NJ time through fho
entrance door by an inspector who
stands beside il The voters 70 in
alone and the door locks behiad him.
He sees in front of him vertical rows
OF cards Of different eulerS. each
beating the names of the candidates
OF political party. and to The right
OF each name - knob 20 be pressed
in. Thus the Democratic ticket l.
MI IN yellow. the Republican all IN
red, the Prohibition all in blue. Ii
the voter is illitcrate. he has only TO
know the color of his ticket to vote
intelligently, provided he wished 10
vote straight" When the voter
pushes ia the knob 10 the right
of name of q candidate for
one ~fiiee, he registers his vote
<sts tor o t. a.
and at the same time locks the knobs
of the candidates on all ether tickets
for the same office. thus making il
impossible for anybody 10 vote for
mere than one candidate for any Of
iee. The knobs when pressed in re.
main ia that position till the voter
passes out of the booth. When he
has completed his balloting by push
ing in the knobs opposite the name
of every candidate for whom be
wishes to vote, he opens the exit
door, which opens only from the in
side, aud doing SO unlocks again the
entrance door, and at the same time
releases all the knobs on all the bal.
lots. The machine is thus ready for
the next voter, whom the inspector
is able TO pass in through the un-
locked entrance door. The total
vote foI each candidate is recorded
automatically as the election pro-
ceeds, and all the poll clerks have To
do is to transfer to their books the
totals of the different machines
used, In case more than one is nee
essary IN an election, verify them.
and announce the result.
The speed with which votes are re-
corded and counted is something
surprising. Thus with two machines,
at a recent ele ction in Warsaw, Mass.
92S votes were polled in considerably
less time than allowed by law, though
they took the place of twenty four
booths as required by the Australian
system. There were four columns
in different colors on each machine,
and sixty-four candidates in all. The
result for candidates at the head of
the ticket was announced one min
ute after the closing of the polls,
and for the entire tickets within six
teen minutes after the closing.
That is quick work. No chance
'fs7onsssed for manipulation. The
machine however IS not conducive
to Independent voting among those
who are not expert in selecting their
favorltes. Illiterates have to go by
the color of the ticket and vote it
straight; but then it Is suggested
that men of that class generally pro-
pose to vote straight. 1t is only the
educated who are inclined to select
from all the tickets. and they will
know how to manage the machine.
The great points being TO obtain
accuracy in the result and no cheat
ing, the machine seems to fill along
felt want in certain northern com
munities.-News & Observer.
We were very much interested in
reading the above and felt very
much gratified to find it in the edi-
torial columns of the News & Obser-
yer for we felt that the editor had
repented and was converted, and
would in the future stand for free
ballot and fair count. But when we
come to the last paragraph we lost
all hope. We saw that Ephraim
was still Joined to his idols. He says
that the machine will prevent cheat
ing in elections and seems to fill a
long felt want in certain NORTH Err
communities. This is brazen cheek,
a paper that is the ''organ" of a
party that was guilty only last No
vember and right here in North Car
Dina of enough cheating stealing,
rottenness and corruption to dam
any panty, even the worse element Of
Republicanism in the darkest corner
of certain machine communities.