Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-08
VOTING by MACHINERY.
Several Promising Trials Made of the

The Myers balloting machine was used
at the recent election for the first time in
Rochester, Yonkers, Rye and Yorktown,
says the New York Times. Mount. Vernon
also used the machine, but the voters there
having used 1t once before, were somewhat
familiar with it.. In the four new places
there were the usual humorous experiences
always attendant upon trying a new idea
of the sort.
At Yonkers the voter who proverbially
knew it ALL scorned instructions from
those delegated to impart them, with the
usual result. One very intelligent citizen,
who has held some Of the highest offices in
the gift of his fellowtownsmen, entered
the booth or cabinet, and without produc-
ing the usual clicking noises incident 10
pushing in the knobs. emerged, gravely
walked up to the clerks and asked for his
ballots. This, of course, only caused a
broad smile all around. The man had
gone through the machine and not voted at
all. He was told that he had lost his vote,
and could not under any circumstances go
through the machine second time.
Another man, an out-and-out democrat,
who had no patience with third parties, -
pushed in every knob of the prohibition
ticket, thing he could never have been
hired to do.
The pastor of the coored church had some
thing of the experience of man who goes
into mediums cabinet, but he made a
record. He went in, tackled the first set
of knobs he saw, and rushed out with his
hair standing on end, -exclaiming: "Bress
de Lord. I'm alivew He had done the act
in just ten seconds, and could not for the
life Of him tell for whom he had voted.
One corpulent individual passed in all
right but came to grief wnen about to
come out. The entrance door is larger
than the exit, and there are two doors to
the latter, one Of which lets the voter out
of the main apartment, where the voting is
inf oil oh
inches square. The first of these two
doors has to be closed before the second can
be opened The fat man was squeezed in
there like a sardine in a box, and as the
cabinet was not standing exactly plumb, the
outer door could not be readily opened. He
seemed probable candidate for asphyxia-
ton, but he managed to draw oxygen
through small opening in the door until
the cabinet was leveled, and then he came
out with perspiration trlckling down his
cheeks.
An Irishman went into the cabinet in
one district and as soon as the door had
closed upon him there was a rafting as
though he was having a set-to with the
spirits of a medium. There is little open
ing in this apartment, with a shield ar
ranged so that while the inspector in
charge cannot see the balloting knobs, he
can, talk to the man inside should he de-
sire any instruction. The Irishman grabbed
this and seemed intent on tearing it out
until the inspector finally prevailed upon him
to desist; then 1t was learned that the man
had become so scared he did not know what
he was doing and wanted to know how to
get out again, and was pulling at every
thing he could get hold on.
Another class of voters, who had not read
the instructions carefully, did not under
stand that they must push in the knobs
until they stayed. They came out and
said they. guessed the machine was out Of
order, for one knob stuck when pushed in.
OF course. that was the only knob pushed
in properly, and all the others had failed
to count
Some complaint was made of the machine
on account of the noise made by the click
when the knobs were pushed in. 1t was
said that persons standing near the ma
chine could tell whether the occupant was
voting straight not, The man who voted
raght pressed the knobs in succession,
without any break. When a break occurred
II showed that the occupant was emitting a
knob or voting split" Those who un-
ierstood how TO act voted their splits" first.
At the side of the machine, back of the
knobs, had been inserted the names of all
the candidates precisely the same as they
were on the inside of the cabinet. At the
close of the polls the doors were opened
and opposite the name of each candidate
was registered the total number of votes
cast for him. One of the inspectors called
off the figures while another filled out a
printed tally list furnished for that pur-
pose,
In this way the complete vote in each
polling place was known in less than ff-
teen minutes. While the machine gave
general satisfaction. 1t is said that some of
he knobs did not work easily, and il ap-
1eared that the total vote in some districts
lid not correspond properly to the total num-
Der of men who had voted. This however
nay be explained on the ground that some
men failed to vote at ALL by not pushing
n the knobs far enough to make them stay
With practice all these little defects will
PASS away. in all probability, and 1t is very
likely that In very short time every town
n Westchester county will vote by machine.