Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-03-11
TRIALS OF VOTING MACHINES.
On the Whole the Experiments Were
Not Quite Successful.

Some interesting results have been
obtained by the trial of the McTammany
voting machine in the election at Wor-
cester and the simultaneous trial of the
Myers machine at Rochester, n. Y.
Success is claimed in each city by the
friends of the inventors, and enough is
conceded by the critics to show some
excellent results for each machine,
though there are evident points of weak
ness in each. Temporary failures to
work correctly on account of some me-
chanical difficulty caused trouble in the
use of both machines, but the bitches
Of this sort were fewer and less serious
at Worcester. There a broken cord,
quickly repaired, and the clogging of
a machine by bits of paper punched
from the ballots, were the only acct
dents; but it was discovered in one of
the wards at Rochester, after the Myers
machine had been worked by forty
voters, that only six ballots had been
recorded. That was serious, and more
serious was the fact that the skilled
mechanic in charge was unable to ex-
plain where the trouble was, though the
machine was finally made to do it's
work.
AS to the speed of registering votes,
both the McTammany and the Myers
machines gave abundant satisfaction,
each being able to register as many as
four votes a minute when crowded.
The average speed was from two to
three votes a minute for each machine,
and maximum of six votes a minute
was claimed for the McTammany de-
vice. In counting returns, however, the
McTammany was slow, and its inventor
has promised a pneumatic Improvement
that shall give quicker returns. The
polls in Worcester closed at D. M, and
the first results were announced at s
o'clock in the evening, fifteen precincts
being given out at 10 o'clock. That was
an hour or so quicker than results were
given at the previous presidential cleo
ton in the same city, but it was dis
appointment to those interested in the
machine. The Myers machine did bet
ter. Within twenty minutes after clos
ing the polls results for presidential and
gubernatOrial candidates were known,
for all except half dozen districts, and
by o'clock in the evening all results
were announced.
In point of the secrecy of the ballot,
moreover, the Myers system seems to
have been superior, for no criticism was
made by Rochester citizens, while in
Worcester there was complaint that per-
sons outside the booths could tell by the
position of the voter and the sound of
the keys what ticket was being voted.
In fact, one of the candidates was able
to tell before the polls were closed that
he had been defeated, and to give a
close approximation to the vote.
An unsatisfactory feature of the ma
chine system Of voting, true so far as
can be learned of both the devices
named, is the fact that the voter is I'M
able to see the actual result Of his vot-
ing, and goes away from the polls, not
sure, but hoping that he has succeeded
in expressing his choice One Worcester
paper says that no one will ever know
how many votes were cast in that city,
last election, or whether they were cor
rectly recorded. In Rochester the same
was doubtless true, else how could forty
six voters pass the machine before it
was discovered that only six votes had
been registered? Here, certainly, is
serious reject in the machine system,
and one that must be remedied before
any mechanical device will be allowed
to take the place Of the blanket ballot
in our elections. Probably it is true, as
a New York newspaper predicts, that
'the perfected voting machine, when it
shall have been secured, will give us the
ideal secret ballot" but most voters will
ask for results more evidently accurate,
certain and speedy than those secured
in the trials at Worcester and Rochester
before they will be willing to throw
aside the old for the new.