The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-11-10
NUMBERING
Of BALLOTS
Governor Garter Gives
Reasons for Plan
Adopted.

az have been surprised to find that
many people did not know, and 40 not
know. why a perforated slip was put
on the ballot" Governor Carter said
Yesterday afternoon, continuing:
whether it was ever done IN the
Territory / have no means OF knowing
b11t given a ballot without a slip for
numbering, there is nothing to prevent
voters going in and being handed
ballot and coming out without casting
If. Then, with his vote sacr1tlced, ne
could hand his ballot to some heeler,
who would mark it and give 1t to some
voter whose vote had been promised or
purchased This second man would
vote the marked ballot and bring out
the official ballot received by himself
from the presiding officer, delivering it
clean and unmarked to the heller for
marking and delivering to the third
fixed voter And so on, keeping up
this endless chain would enable the
heeler to ensue his foaters' voting any
way he wanted
.'Whi1e Secretary | considered it
necessary, in the interests OF an honest
ballot and fair count, to provide
against that sort of fraud, so had the
perforated slip put on the ballot at that
time.
Under the County Act the plan was
to have the voter sign roster. The
chairman of inspectors, knowing that
the ballots he gave out were numbered
in consecutive order, could at any time
from the first know whether the ballot
handed back was the one he had given
the voter, besides knowing if any BAL
lot delivered to a voter was not brought
back by the same voter to be deposited
in the box. Part of the plan was to
have the clerk check off the
name, when the chairman, being
satisfied that the number on the ballot
corresponded with that on the list, tore
the number off the ballot before de-
posting it in the box.
mir. Atkinson said my plan did not
work very well, because in many cases
voters refused to sign the register and
when the inspectors were hurried they
did not always check the numbers be-
fore tearing off the slip.
"For the election just held Mr.. At
kinson, in the interest of preventing
1TduQ, QeN1ScQ lHG VI d otuD
pad, whereby the voters number was
retained on the stub and when the bal
lot with the number duplicated on it
was brought back by the voter the slip
was torn off.
In connection with the foregoing ex-
PLANTATION by the Governor, it may be
stated, as matter of fact, that the
numbered counterfeit, as it is called
elsewhere, is an old feature of the
Australian ballot system. The differ
ence between the original example and
the imitation at Tuesdays election here
is that the old form has coarsely
perforated line clear across the ballot
paper, so that it can be torn off with
a twist of the thumb and finger when
the ballot is folded for deposlting,
whereas the new adaptation has
corner marked in two finely perforated
lines at right angles which can only be
torn off by partly opening the fold of
the ballot and very careful lingering to
prevent mutilation of the ballot. It
would be quite easy, with this local
modification of the counterfeit, for an
inspector in tearing off the slip to make
such rent in the ballot as would rend-
er il easily identihable.