Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1903-06-12
A VOTING MACHINE.
A RELIABLE VOTE RECORDER
HAS BEEN FOUND.

| u - INC Unlteu StdtCS Young fNdCnine VdCe
at Jamestown, N. Y.-lt Costs $500, But Is
Said to Be Reliable and Saves Much of the
Expense of Election - The Machine Briefly
Described AS Easy to Vote Split as
Straight Tickets. an Essential Now a. Days
1t Seems to Meet the Requirements ol
Accuracy and Secrecy.
In these days of automatic wonders,
it is not surprising that as simple a
matter as recording the will of voters
should be possible without all the
formality of ballot, box and tally.
sheet, and the delay and possible in
accuracy Of record-making and tab
ulation. Inventive genius has not
been idle in supplying this want, but
it seems that machines submitted
hitherto have been but costly expert
ments, without assurance OF the relia-
bilily which must be fully established
before they replace the forms sane
toned by custom and faith based
upon time-honored usage.
1t seems, however, that Rochester,
N. Y, after five years use OF one Of
machines has become so we'll satisfied
with one of the later devices that it
has adopted it for permanent use.
The public generally give it practi-
cally unanimous approval, and there
is no desire to go back to the old sys.
tenn. Rochester feels that it is, in this
respect at least, at the very forefront
OF progress.
The machine which is used in that
city is often described as a mechani.
cal Australian ballot. 1t insures Sc.
crecy to the voter, is simple and easy
to operate, it never makes mistakes, it
not only records, but also counts the
votes as they are made, and it presents
the tabulated results of the precinct
vote to the judges the instant the polls
are declared closed. All that is left to
do in order to get the result OF the
election is to add together the figures
from each precinct in senior the ward,
or district, or city, as the case may be
The machine is known as the United
States Standard voting machine. and is
made in jamestown, N. Y.
The familiar cash register seen ev-
erywhere in stores is the contrivance
which best illustrates the nature OF
the voting machine. The principle is
very much the same, set of pointers
or levers, locking device and me-
chanism for computation being used,
but OF course the voting machine is
much more complicated than the
other.
The face OF the machine, as it is
presented to the voter, who stands be-
fore it, is about four feet square. and
its depth is ten inches. 1t is support.
ed on four steel legs. which bring the
top of it about six feet above the floor.
II weighs about 500 pounds and costs
$500.
A movable curtain is hung in front
of the machine, 90 arranged that it re.
mains open while no one is using it,
but is pulled shut automatically as
soon as the voter comes to it. The
first thing the voter does is to reach
up to lever at the top of the machine
and pull it to the right. The effect is
both to close the curtain and to unlock
the mechanism so that one ballot for
each Office, and one only. is cast.
The voter then finds himself facing
the front of the machine on which are
rows of small numbered pointers.
Each candidate to be voted for il rep
resented by one OF these pointers. and
each political party has its candidates
names placed in q row horizontally
across the front Of the machine. The
different candidates for the same Office
therefore have their names one be.
meath the other in the perpendicular
columns. At the left OF each party
row is knob, on which is the name OF
the party and a symbol or emblem to
represent it.
When the voter wants to vote a
straight party ticket, the first thing he
has to do, after he has moved the
lever that unlocks the keys, is to press
the knob which represents his par
ticular party to the right until it
rings q bell. This movement turns
downward every one OF the little
pointers that represent the candidates
OF the party and places them in a vot.
ing position. 1t does not register the
vote, however, as it is only prelm-
mary getting into position. To com.
plete the vote and register and count
it all the voter needs to do then is to
seize the original lever which unlocked
the keys and closed the curtain, and
push it back to its old place. With
that the curtain opens, the vote is re-
corded and the keys are re.locked, pre-
liminary to the appearance OF another
man ready to exercise his right of
suffrage.
1t is not much more difficult to
split a ticket than to vote straight.
To split the voter must first press the
knob representing one of the political
parties. For convenience he will use
the knob OF the party from which he
lchooses most Of his candidates, but