Omaha daily bee., 1906-06-29
THE "RorATIoN" BALLOT.


1t is a we'll known fact that the ''ro-
tation" ballot for electing delegates to
the republican state convention at the
primary next Tuesday was inflicted
upon the voters of Douglas county for
the express purpose of making the
marking of the ballots so confusing
and burdensome as to dlsfranchise
workingmen and foreign-born citizens
who are supposed to be lacking in "in-
telligence." 1t devolves upon working
men and foreign-born voters, there
fore, to show that despite these unnec-
essary' and uncalled for Instructions
they still have the intelligence to exer-
else the elective franchise effectively.
To do this every voter must study
and understand the ballot he Is re-
quired to mark. The rotation" bal
lot. according to the court order pro-
cured by the Fontanelles. is ballot in
this instance containing 226 names, ar
ranged in one long column. following
one another in alphabetical order, but
rotated" so that the particular ballot
a voter may receive may begin with
any one of the names. For example,
the particular ballot handed out may
begin with the name "McCague." In
that case the other names will follow
alphabetically from McCague to ''Zim
man" and then to the first letter of the
alphabet and down the A. B. Cs to
"McCague" again.
To use a sample ballot effectively IL
should be taken into the booth by the
voter and each name for which he
wishes to vote checked off as he puts
his crossmark opposite it on the Off
cial ballot. After making his cross
marks the voter should count them to
be sure he has voted for eighty-three-
no more and no less. II he. makes q
mistake he should return his ballot and
get a new one. and II he is In doubt
about anything he should ask the cleo
| ton Judge to help him.
Another point for special care is to
avoid confusion by identity of names
There are on the ballot two Adams, of
which james H. Adams" is the Rose
water delegate. There are six Ander-
sons, of which two, David Anderson"
and "Nels ]. Anderson" are on the
Rosewater ticket There are two
Clarkes, of which Of. N. Clarke" is on
! the Rosewater ticket. There are two
Coles, of which "W. w. Cole" is on the
Rosewater ticket. There are two Cum
ninghams, of which IN. o. Cunning
ham" is on the Rosewater ticket. There
are two Fosters, of which William A.
Foster" is on the Rosewater ticket.
There are three Johnsons. of which
two, George NJ. Johnson" and wv.
Ernest Johnson" are on the Rosewater
ticket. There are five Smiths, of which
two, Edward A. Smith" and Fred l..
Smith," are on the Rosewater ticket.
There are two Stones. of which Ben
j. Stone" is on the Rosewater ticket.
There are two Willis, of which "E. A.
Willis" is on the Rosewater ticket.
With a grouping of the delegations no
diflculty would have been found on
dCCOuHls bul Win INC fONSA TO
CURED to make eighty-three crosses To
register his choice 1t is especially i'm
portant that he avoid being misled by
similarity of names.
The application of the rotation
ballot scheme to this election OF con
vention delegates is a piece of ballot
jugglery perpetrated in the hope OF
splitting the delegation. To accom-
plish results Douglas county republic
ans ought to send delegates to Lincoln
unanimous for the candidate of theil
choice. II remains for the rank and
file of the party to rebuke the rotation
ballot tricksters by eleeting every on,
Of the eighty-three Rosewater dele
gates.