Omaha daily bee., 1896-11-30
CRITTCISING THE BALLOT LAW.

Elwood Republican: There seems to be q
| general demand for some change in the AUS
! tralian ballot law, rendering 1t less cumber,
| some. II will doubtless receive attention al
! the hands of the forthcoming legislature
Columbus Telegram: All the constitu
! tional amendments failed of adoption at the
| election. We will have to try it again when
! the Australian ballot law has been So
amended that the slowest Of us can vote At
! we want to in minute or two.
Hardy Herald: If the incoming lcgisla-
! turc viii make some good alterations in the
! Australian ballot law and put in the rest
| Of its time investigating the various state
| officers and let the stay and collection laws
! alone as they are. its constituency viii ap-
| preciate its work and be truly thankful be,
sides.
Mindcn Courier: Every change in our bal
lot law will confuse voters more or less,
ana therefore radical changes should be
avoided. However, 10 place an emblem OF
each party at the head of it's ticket, so
that each voter wishing to vote a straight
ticket could do so by making a cross in or
near this emblem, would be simple and o:
great advantage all around.
Nelson Gazette; Say what you will abou,
! the Australian ballot system as IL is used in
Nebraska, no one will deny that IL gives us
a very complicated and bungleSome ballot.
Besides it is too eXpensve-unneccssar so,
too, TO great extent The legislature would
do well to make such changes as to simplify
the ballot as we'll as render It less expensive.
A few thousand dollars saved to the tax
payers Is equal to just so many made
Nehawka Register: II seems to be the
general verdict in Nebraska that our ballot
law Is crude and nCeda to be revised and
shaped up. The names o. the pre- len ial can
Cidatco should appear on the ballot and one
mark should be sufficient to vote for all the
electors Ana many favor the designation of
each party so a straight ticHet can be voted
quickly and without difficulty. The secrecy
OF the ballot has been attained and the voter
should be assisted TO more perfectly express
htJ preference,
Central City Nonpareil: The Legislature
this winter should amend the present ballot
law. Under the present law there are 200
official ballots printed for every ltty votes
cast, or a fraction Of nifty and the same mum
her of sample ballots. Hence If "A precinct
casts ffty-hve votes under the present law
500 ballots would be printed Very few sam
pie ballots are used, probably % per cent OF
them are wasted If the law was so amended
az to provide one sample and one oiilclal bal
lot for each voter with an additional number
Of official ballots 70 the amount OF One-fOurth
the number Of yOtera to provide for wastagc
and possible increase, there would be suli-
ciemt means should be provided for a
man making o single mark should he wish
TO vote a atraight ticket, Another Cumber-
some feature is placing the names Of judges
and clerks Of election on the ballots. These
officers should be appointed from the leading
political parties by the county clerk The
Australian ballot law Is a great Improvement
over tho old method Of voting but Etll 1t -
far behind the voting machine, which no
doubt VIII soon be cIamOring for recognition,
Grand Island Independent: The next Ne
braska Legislature can greatly improve the
present Australian ballot law BY an amend
Mcnt that permits the voter TO cast his bal
lot for the straight ticket by making but
one al the head Of the ticket. The Illinois
or c dorado Gyslem Is much preferable 10
that OF Nebraska. A Central city paper,
commenting on tho same, states that the
nowly elected secretary Of state w. f., Por-
ter, when q member OF the legislature, FIRST
introduced the bill. That the law specifically
states how the ballots shall be printed, That
all names shall be printed In the same si1o