The Portland daily press., 1897-01-06

the marty designation after each, and re-
| uuiras fhe voter to make II cross after the
name of each person for whom he desires
to vote. The Rhode Island ballots are
printed On thick paper reFem bling that
often usea between Il cafpes and the
| floor. In voting for presidential electors,
the citizens of the little state are re-
| ouired. however. to make but one cross
In Connecticut. the ballots are printed
| in q STYLE fixed by law and look like the
old fashioned tickets Of the days before
| the Australian system was thought OF,
separate ballots being suppiieo ior each
party. They ale printed by the state
printers and the towns and boroughs pay
for their allowances at al UNIFORM rate
OF twenty cents a THOUSAND.
Tho Empire State CT New York is
about the only Eastern state to adopt
symbols to help the illiterate voter who
cannot read the party names. nha WneIe
lists by party as in Maine, but over enoh
list in addition to the party name Is
device to indicate it. For instance, the
Democrat who cannot read can remember
to put his cross in the circle at the top of
the column under the black star. An
eagle sitting on q ballot box and holding
a quill In his beak typifies the Republi-
can party; q ship under full sail the
National Democratic; three decker
fountain in full play, the Cold water or
ganization; brawny right arm ana
hand holding blacksmiths' sledge, the
socialist labor party, anu Grover isal
the peoples. A cross in the circle under
one of these devices votes all that ticket,
To split tie ticket a cross should pc
made before each candidates. name; or Ii
q party has not nominated candidates for
all the Offices, the voter may make q
cross in the circle and then hunt around
until he finds candidates for the missing
offices in the other parties lists and may
vote for them by making crosses before
their names.
There is also provided on the New
York ballot blank column i'll which
the voter may write the names of persons
not nominated for whom he wishes to
vote.
PENNSYLVANIA is not as large a state as
New York, but its official ballot Is about
twice as large as the Empire States. IN
it's general features and manner OF voting
it is similar to the New York sheet. ex-
cent that there are no devices to help de-
scribe the parties. Ii is stylish produc-
ton, however, being headed with the
state seal and printed in handsome
manner and on good paper.
The Indiana ballot is the largest of the
lot The specimen is printed on coarse
yellow paper and the whole thing, spread
out wrong side up, would look Ike an
old gold plush cloth it used on 4. table
The candidates are grouped by partles
and each list is headed by aev1ce.
Naturally the device for the Prohibition
party can be made the most appropriate.
The idea seems to have been taken from
the familiar advertisement OF the Rising
Sun stove polish being "Seascape,
the beams of the rising orb OF
day illuminating desolats sea OF water.
This ticket may be marked either by
cross at the head of one of the columns
to vote the whole ticket or by cross be-
side the name of each person voted for II
the ticket is split.
In the Ohio ballot, the party devices
appear again and the voting OF straight
and split tickets is the same as in
Indiana. There is, however, new feat
ure in the Ohio ballot, for at the top
there is space in which the name and
residence Of the voter and his registered
number must be written, these being
torn off before the ballot is marked.
The Illinois ticket is much like that of
Ohio. minus the place for registering the
voters name and the heraldic devices to
designate the party. In the last national
election that body which has been almost
| forgotten now, the M1ddIe OF the Road
party has place.
Michigan, with the devices to help
designate the parties, and Wisconsin
without have about thu same system as
that in the States just mentioned.
Wyoming clings to the old way Of ar
ranging the candidates by Office instead
| of parties, and requiring each voter to
make a cross after the name of every
candidate for whom he wants to vote.
The names of several women are III the
| list Of candidates for Presidential electors
| and both the names of Candidates for
superintendent Of schools are those of
women.
Nebraska and Minnesota also require
GROSS after the name of each person
voted for but on the Minnesota ticket
the names are groured by parties instead
of being alphabetically arranged.
Colorado has varied the plan by voting
| for an unsplit ticket by having the names
of the parties with the names of the can
didates and distinguishing devices
printed in @ column at the top OF the
Sheet. A cross after one of the names
| " tes all the party ticket. For the bene
fit of those who want to vote split
ticket the names Of all the candidates are
arranged below, and each name must be
ma rked-Colorado voters, by the way,
are required to write with pen and ink.
The official ballot from the State of
Florida is q curious production. Ii re-
ouires a cross to be made before the
| names of the candidates voted for, but
| does not give any Indication to what
| part ties they belong In other words in
state where grent proportion OF the
| voters must require aid &c vote intclli-
gently, great care has apparently been
| taken to make the ballot as blind as pos
| sible.