The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-09-26
FEATURES OF NEW BALLOT LAW.
Some Idea of Its PerniciOuS Character
Grouping is Prohibited.

GIOuplnS Is fIOnlDltSu.
Some idea of the pernicious charac-
ter If the ballot law as adopted by
the extra session of the Democratic
Legislature can be formed by this eX-
PLANTATION.
Under the new law the party en-
blem has been prohibited and the
grouping of party nominees in par
allel columns is destroyed. Under
the designation of each office to be
filled the names of the candidates are
to be arranged alphabetically, ac-
cording to their surname. The offices
are separated, and under each office
there is an alphabetical arrangement
of the names of the candidates. These
alphabetical groups under the desig-
nation of the respective offices are
placed one under the other in one
column, if possible. If the number
of candidates for all the offices exceed
36, another column is added, so
that there shall not be more than SO
names in any one column. These
added columns are combinations of
each other. If there is more than one
column, the columns are so arranged
that the same number of names shall
be printed in each column. To H.
lustrate this, if there are 40 names in
all, there will be two columns of 20
names each. If there were 81 names
there would be three columns of %
names each. There is also a provis-
ion which permits the voter to write
the name of any candidate for any
office, but whether spaces will be pro-
vided for this purpose is a question
The law does not say so. Then, again,
If there were as many spaces as there
are candidates, the uniformity of the
ballot might be destroyed. The
printing throughout the ballot must
be uniform in size, style and appear
ance.
The sample ballot that the board
of supervisors of elections are requir-
ed to post four days before an cleo
ton under the new law must be "of
considerable magnified dimensions. :"
There was no such provision under
the old law. 1t will now be utterly
impossible to obtain any knowledge
OF the size of the ballot or to obtain
an accurate idea of its appearance
until one enters al election booth.
The greatest care must be exercised
by the voter in marking his ballot, as
it seems to be the studied purpose of
the law to make voting difficult and
to vitiate as many ballots as possible.
The ballot must be marked with an
indelible pencil provided for that pur-
pose. Under the old law this provis-
ion was expressly stated to be ''direc-
tory and a ballot marked with any
other instrument would have been
valid.
The intentional omission of this
provision of the old law seems to
make it clear that ballot marked
with a lead pencil would be void.
The most drastic change made in re-
gard to marking the ballot is the
sweeping one that if the voter makes
any mark but cross mark within
the square upon the ballot or if he
votes for more names than there are
persons to be elected to any one office
the entire ballot is thrown out. This
provision must be carefully consid-
cred to be appreciated. Let the voter
understand that if he does not make
a complete cross mark each time he
intends to make a cross mark, or if he
attempts to mark the ballot by sin
gle mark or small circle, or even by a
cross mark that extends beyond the
small square opposite the name he
loses absolutely his right of suffrage
and his ballot is cast aside. What a
contrast to the old law. 1t is well to
repeat the language of the old law
IF the voter has marked more names
than there are persons to be elected
to an office, or if for any reason it is
impossible to determine the vote for
any Office to be filed, his ballot shall