Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1903-05-26

NoAt az hCN' oiNSA bhC pSho' were
closed the result was known to a
certainty, while despite the close
ness Of the vote, there was not SO
much as an intimanlon of contest
on the part of the defeated candi.
date, Rochester had used the vot-
ing machine, and there was no
chance TO ego behind the returns. -
If the old paper ballots had been
used there would undoubtedly have
been enough void and marked bal
lots to form the basis for a contest
with all its attendant expense and
anxiety.
Rochester : experience with the
machine during the past five cleo
tions has been so satisfactory that
city officials, politicians and the
public generally give it practically
unanimous approval, and there is
no desire to go back to the old
system. Rochester feels that it is.
in this respect at least, at the very
forefront of progress.
The machine which is used in
this city is often described as a
mechanical Australian ballot. 1t
insures secrecy 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 tabu-
lated 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 fig
ures from each precinct in the ward,
or city or district, as the case may
be. The machine is known as the
United States Standard voting ma
chine, and is made in Jamestown,
N. Y.
The familiar cash register seen
everywhere in stores is the coDtriv-
ance which best illustrates the ma
ture of the voting machine. The
principle is very much the same, a
set of pointers or levers, a locking
device and a mechanism for eOmpu-
tation being used, but OF eousse the
voting machine IS much more COM
plicated than the other.
The face of the machine, as it is
presented to the voter, who, stands
before it, is about four feet square,
and its depth is ten inches 1t is
supported on four steel legs, which
bring the tor of it about six teet
above the floor. II weighs about
500 pounds and costs, $500.
A movable curtain is hung in
front of the machine, so arranged
that it remains open while no.one is
using it, but is shut auto
matically as soon as the voter comes
to 1t. The first thing the voter
does is to reach up to lever at the
top of the machine and pull 1t to
the right. The effect is both to
close the curtain and unlock the
mechanism so that one ballot for
each office, and one only, is cast.
The voter then finds himself fac
ing the machine on which are rows
of small numbered pointers. Each
candidate to be voted for is repre-
scented by one of these pointers, and
each political party has its candi-
dates names placed in a row hori-
zontslly across the front of the
machine. The different candidates
for the same Office therefore have
their names one beneath 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 repre-
sent 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
the particular party to the right
until it rings bell. This move
ment turns downward every one of
the little pointers that represent
the candidates OF the party and
places them in a voting position.
1t does not register the vote, howev-
er, as it is only preliminary get
ting into position. To complete 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