The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-11-16
LAW is NOT GOOD
Ballot Reform In Kansas Very
Badly Needed.
Thousands of Voters Disfran-
chised This Year.
DIFFICULT TO VOTE.
Person Who Leaves Straight
Ticket in Trouble.
How the Australian Ballot Is
Used in Colorado.

There is a big demand for reform
in the voting laws by the coming leg
islature. The last election has taught
lessons which make a change neces-
sary. AS people feel now they will
welcome almost any kind of change
that promises an improvement.
Changes will be asked along two
lines. One will be a change that will
enable a voter to cast his ballot and
vote for the candidates he desires
without running the risk of having his
entire ballot invalidated because of
some technicality, and the other will
be a change in either the method of
voting or the manner of counting the
ballots so that the judges and clerks
of election will not have to work all
night and perhaps a day or two after
the polls close to count the ballots,
thereby greatly delaying the returns.
These two reforms may be COM
bined into one if there is a demand for
the adoption of voting machines. The
use of voting machines would elimi-
nate the danger of a voter having his
ballot thrown out and it would also
make it possible to record the vote
within half an hour after the polls
close.
While there were probably not as
many ballots thrown out In1S year as
there were two years ago, it is not at
all improbable that there were 20,000l
voters diSfranchised this year because
of some technicality in voting. Two
years ago the spoiled ballots nearly all
belonged to fusionists. This year it
is probable that the majority were
those of Republicans who scratched.
The plan of the present ballot law is |
to make it as hard as possible for the
voter to scratch. 1t is hedged about
with technicalities, so that if he should
even happen to mark his ballot with
an indelible pencil instead of a black /
lead pencil, it would be thrown out /
These technicalities frighten the aver |
age voter who becomes confused in
marking his ballot and so he votes a !
straight ticket.
There are two theories of voting. |
One is to vote for party and the other |
is to vote for the man. In some cam |
paigns, such as the one in 1896, the
issues OverShadoWed the candidates
and voters as a rule voted for party. |
In the campaign just closed, however, |
Roosevelt was the great figure of the /
campaign, and all down the line men
voted for individuals and not for
party.
There are also two systems of bal
lots, one which favors voting for par
ty and another which favors voting for
candidates as individuals. The Kansas
ballot is a good sample of the former
system. 1t makes it easy to vote a
straight party ticket, but difficult to
candidate. The Colorado ballot is a
sample of the other system. It is not
difficult to vote a straight ticket. but
if one does not wish to vote a straight
ticket the inclination is to vote for in
dividuals. The Colorado ballot. how
ever, is a snare to the ignorant voter
who cannot read.
At the top of the Colorado ballot is
the following: 'I wish to cast a
straight. ballot. except as
otherwise indicated by cross marks
after the names of candidates on other
tickets"
The ballot is not arranged in
party tickets, but is grouped
by offices. Under the head Cover
nor" would be all the candidates for
that office, arranged alphabetically,
ing them after each one. and a square
after each name in which to make a
cross. The names are arranged like
this:
David NJ. Dale, Democratic.
Edward w. Hoch, Republican.
James Kerr, Prohibition.
Granville Lowther, Socialist.
Lieutenant Governor:
Samuel P. Gould, Prohibition.
David ]. Hanna, Republican.
John S. Parks, Democratic.
A. Roessler, Socialist"
With this kind of ballot the voter
can simply write in the blank space |
at the top the name of the party he
can run through the ballot and make
a cross mark after the names of any
candidates not on that party ticket for
whom he wishes to vote. The great
objection to this ballot is that the ig
norant voter has to have help in order
to vote it intelligently. As used in
it is also very bulky because
Of the great amount of surplus infOr-
nation concerning each candidate that
Is printed on the ballot. The man who
,an read and write, however, can vote
4 ballot on the Colorado system and
express his wishes very easily.
There were very few precincts in
Kansas where all the ballots cast were
townships as high as fifty or sixty ball
ots were spoiled. In Clay county :
here were 204 general ballots and 514
township ballots thrown out on techni-
,alities of the ballot law. Every man
has a right to have his vote counted
as he intends to vote, and the public .
will have no sympathy with system
which prevents a voter from expressing ,
lis choice and having it counted. That
s why there is now a big demand for
ballot law which will make voting :
simpler and surer. ,
There are two ways of reforming the .
method of counting ballots so that cleo :
ton boards will not have to work all :
lay besides. One way is to have two : !
election boards, one to receive the bal !
OTIS and the other to count them. Two
sets of ballot boxes are necessary. When :
-oting has progressed one hour the :
board is given the box with
he ballots in and the counting COM
nences while the voting continues with
he other set Of boxes. In this manner
he counting is completed soon after
he polls close, and that is why the re- 7
ult in New York is pretty well known Z
bout the time the judges in Kansas {
oegin to count. The counting board is ,