The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-05-29
City of LfnwoOd viii Be the
First to Test 1t.
Squares Placed at the Right of
the Name.
OUT.
Clerk Deprived of Power to As,
sign Parties
To Position on the BalIOt-LaW
Regulates This.

Leavenworth. May 29.-The late ses-
sion of the legislature made some i'm
portant changes in the ballot law and,
as it happens, the new form of ballot
Will be first used in the newly incorpor-
ated town of Linwood, in this county
at its first election for city officers on
next Tuesday. To avoid confusion in
the late spring elections the legisla-
ture provided that the changes in the
form of the ballot should not become
effective until published in the statute
books
Such publication was made last week
and the new law is now in force, and so
applies to the Linwood election, which
will have the distinction of being the
first held in the state under its provis-
ion.
The ballots are being printed under
the direction of County Clerk Neihaus,
the town of Linwood itself at present
having no officer authorized to look at
ter the matter. The county clerk will
have to go to Linwood and personally
deliver the ballots to the election
judges.
The placing of the squares in which
the aIl-powerful little '-X-marks'' are
made, 10 the right Of the name. is
PROBABLY the most important change.
heretofore the law has been to make
q - OS9 IL Lie square TO the left of the
name to be voted for, but the IegisIa-
ture at Topeka last winter said that
was all wrong. They argued that DeO-
PIE were naturally inclined to go TO the
hight, in writing, if in nothing else and
concluded that blunders in the voting
booths would be reduced to the mini
mum If the squares We're transferred
from the left TO the right of the name.
That change was therefore made and
when the voter goes into the booth at
LllhN.ood next Tuesday he viii make
cross mark in the square to the left of
the name of the man for whom he
wishes to vote
The law further provides that leach
OF the adjoining columns shall be sep
arated by two distinct lines not less
than one-siXteenth of an inch apart"
The square to the right Of the name is
placed inside of the lines, so it Will be
extremely difficult for the sovereign vO-
ter to get into the wrong pew.
Another important change is made in
the manner of providing a way TO vote
for person whose name is not on the
official ballot. There is one royal Amer
lean privilege that legislatures cannot
take away or abridge-the privilege of
voting for Bill Jones, Dink Bolts, Potts
Gam SANS or any other man. even
HONe Smith, without regard to whether
his name is printed on the official
ballot or not The old Australian law
made provision for this privilege by
inserting a blank line below the name
of each candidate on the ballot but it
was found that the square opposite
these blank lines tended to confuse vo-
tiers. 1t frequently happened that the
| voter would mark in the blank line
| square, thinking that he had scored one
| for the name above. On the new ballot
the blank lines will have a column of
/ their own to the extreme right and
| the voter who doesn't care to help out
any of the regular candidates for q GER
| tain office, can jump over to the blank
| column and write the name of his
I choice.
The legislature also deprived the
county clerk of his power to assign the
| various political parties to positions on
/ the ballot. There has always been a
| lot of kicking over this matter, as every
county clerk is naturally inclined to
give his own party the best position
Hereafter the parties will be given po-
sition according to their strength Thus
! the party casting the largest number
votes for the highest office at the
last preceding election. shall have the
first column on the ballot, and so on
through the entire list of parties
There are a number of other changes
but these are the most important ones
relating to the ballot itself.
The number of voters required to
nominate candidates was largely in
creased.