The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1896-10-31
THE AUSTRALIAN BALLOT.
How to Prepare 1t According to Law
Voters Should Carefully Read
What Follows.

Secretary of State Lesueur in re-
Spouse to numerous inquiries gives ouI
the following:
Under the Australian ballot law it i:
made the duty of the county CLERK:
and the election commissioners to pre-.
pare and furnish to the voters the bal
lots which they are to deposit IN the
boxes on election day. No others can
be used. These ballots are large
sheets of white paper upon which must
be printed, in separate groups, the
tickets of various parties, or such
tickets as may be nominated by elec-
tors who in numbers do not constitute
political parties.
Four constitutional amendments are
to be voted on. The character of each
amendment will, under the law, be
designated on the ballot. The voter,
in order to have his vote counted upon
these amendments, must erase, as the
case may be, the words 'syes" or "no''
to conform the ballot to the vote he
desires to cast OF the proposition voted
on.
On the election day each qualified
voter shall be entitled to enter the
polling place to receive from the judges
of election n ballot, upon which shall
have been placed the initials of two OF
the judges of election, and no other
writing shall be permitted upon the
back of the ballot except the number
of the ballot. The voter then retires
to a booth alone, remaining not more
than five minutes, to prepare his ballot.
In doing this he should particularly
remember that HE lust VOTE ENTIRELY
UPON oNE OF THE GROUPS OR TICKETS.
In other words, he must, by drawing
one or two lines through them from
top to bottom, erase all the groups ex-
cept one, and if he desires to vote for
other persons who are In other groups,
he must do so by crossing out names
and substituting others for them IN
writing under the erasures-ALL UPON
ONE OF THE GROUPS OR TICKETS. He
cannot, for instance, vote for electors
on one ticket and state or county
officers on another ticket. HE MUST
DO ALL HIS VOTING UPON ONE
TICKET, UNDER ONR HEAD. If
he undertakes TO vote for some names
by leaving them unmarked upon one
group and other names in a similar
way upon another group, his ballot
must under the law be rejected as
illegal.
After preparing his ballot the voter
must fold the same so that the face
thereof shall be concealed, and so that
the initials of the judges previously
placed upon the back of the ballot
may be seen. He must then deposit
his vote and forthwith leave the polling
place.
ANY erasures the voter desires to
make on the ticket he wishes to vote
should be by horizontal and not per-
pendicular lines, as the law says-''a
partial erasure of a GROUP by lines
lengthwise of the column, or in any
other manner than by the erasure of a
name to substitute another to be taken
as a rejection of the whole group"
If a voter shall by accident or mis-
take spoil his ballot he may return the
spoiled ballot to the judges of election
and receive another in place thereof.
Any voter who declares under oath
to the judges of election that he cannot
read or write, or that by reason of
physical disability he is unable to mark
his ballot, may declare his choloe of
candidates to the judges having charge
of the ballots, who, in the presence of
the voter, without leaving their respec-
tive positions, shall prepare the ballot
for voting according to his instructions.
REMEMBER.
Erase all the groups except the n
upon which you desire to vote.
On constitutional amendments erase
the words ssYes" or "No" according
to how you desire to vote.
Make no perpendicular lines on the
ticket which you desire to vote.