The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-11-29
VOTING BY MACHINE
EXPERIMENT MADE At ROCKIES
TER IN LAST ELECTION.
Register of Every Vote
Cass-LfttIc Chance Of Mistake III
the Voter Can Read-The Vote
Counted and the Result known NJ
the Close Of the Polls.

In contrast with the delays over the
counting and verifying of the vote or most
places at the election just passed = the
fact that in the city of Rochester. N l.,
with q population Of IS. 90. the return
from one precinct was known III one mn
ute after the polls closed and the COM
plefe vote OF that city for pfeAuenlaai
electors and governor was known In nifty
minutes AFTER the last vote was recoFuea-
This result was due 10 the use o. hai-
loting machine, which kept AUTOMATIC
record OF the votes cast. and the onis iAoor
attending the announcement was the tax
ing down OF the figures shown by the diaas
on the machine BY the Use OF the myers
ballot machine the counting for the mead
OF the tickets. over 81 600 votes. was accom-
pIished in less than an hour. and the news
papers which were read az the supper
tables In that city gave the result OF sns
voting in the twenty wards OF Rochester.
The method Of voting by mechanical
contrtvance Is a new one. ana us result
as shown IN this test. Is most satisfactory
There were a large number OF candidates
Oh the tickets in the city Of Rochester. for
not only the presidential and state officers
were there. but county and legislative
tickets as well. AS a result. system
whereby the total vote may De counted
and returned within few hours Is great
advance over any existing one The tact
that the mechanism is such that there can
be no error in the count; that the moment
vote Is not properly recorded .the ma
chine itself shows the fact makes It's to-
tails reliable and convincing
In the Myers machine the voting - done
more By colors than reading the names or
the candidates. The different parties rep
resented OH the ticket ara assigned colors,
and thus an illiterate voter or hurried
one may not take the trouble to read the
names OF candidates. but at once vote his
choice. OF course. If he is color-blind he
must spell out the captions and names,
but this comes so seldom that II Is not an
element of objection.
The Myers machine consists of series
OF strips of steel. with knobs opposite eacn
opening, made to receive the name OF a
candidate. the lever OF the knob operating
a counting appliance in the inside or the
machine. The column devoted 10 party
has at it's head the designation of the par
ty and knob with the party color. BY
pushing this knob one vote is given to
each candidate of the party in the list.
As soon as the party knob Is pushed In as
far as it will go and the vote recorded.
every other knob on the machine is locked
and there is absolutely no enance to vote
for one candidate twice or for two men
for the same Office.
the means is provided. In the column be-
low the party designation is placed the
name OF each candidate. with the office for
which he is running. Beside the name Is
a knob of the same color as the party one
above. BY pushing in this knob vote Is
cast for the candidate, and no other can
didate for the same Office may receive a
ballot until the voter leaves the booth and
the machine Is returned to its original
6 - -. 49,.
number OF different candidates on different
tickets he may by selecting them from the
list vote for each down the list by simply
pushing in the knobs opposite the names.
That there may be no possible confusion
a poster or ballot chart Is put on the wall
outside the railing In the voting room
which divides the election officers and
voting electors from those who are await
ing their turn 10 vote. On this poster the
names of candidates and the colors which
will appear on the knobs are arranged just
as they are on the voting machine. Ry
reference to this the elector may fix in his
mind the actual location of the knobs
which viii cast a vote for any particular
candidate, at the same time being abso-
lutely certain that the colors he has I'm
mind are the right ones. Two advantages
there are in this. for by this means the
time TO be consumed in voting Is material
Iy lessened.
The voting machine proper Is a sheet
steel cabinet five feet In width by seven
and half feet high. fitted with doors for
entrance and exit, which lock and unlock
automatically. so that not more than one
man can possibly be inside the cabinet at
one time. The railing dividing the gen
eral waiting room from that intended for
the officers OF election runs to a point be-
tween these doors, so that the elector must
pass the clerk at the wicket, who checks
him on the register. and he passes 10 the
Inspector, who admits him 70 the machine.
On the wall opposite the door are the lines
of knobs and rows Of names where the
eiector expresses his viii.
So rapidly may the voting be done that
to cast a straight party ticket need con-
sumo no more than two seconds. In Ro-
chester the bulk of the vote was cast by
2 y. m. The blind voters registered their
choice by counting the rows Of knobs. hav-
Ing memories the numbers Of the candt-
dates they favored. SO clever Is the color
plan that the illiterate voter who did not
try TO read the names OF the candidates.
hut was guided BY his party shade. voted
more quickly than the man who could and
did read. There was no chance for error,
for the election officials compared the
names on the official ballot with those on
the knobs before the polls opened, and the
result was uniformity and rapidly. To
count the ballots II was only necessary "a
remove the cover OF the machine and re-
cord the numbers on the dials. The re-
suit of the experiment at Rochester was
40 convince fhoEa sVhn fought the ma