Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-04-01
RUSSIAN ELECTION
Machinery Is Both Complicated and
 confusing-Lack of Organization.

St. Petersburg March 31.-The cleo tions to the Imperial Douma and the Council of the Empire-Russia's first parliament-bear only slight resem- blance to elections in the United States. The machinery of election is both complicated and confusing, and the lack of political organization on the part of the innumerable parties in the field service to increase the un- certainty of the results.
 For the douma, or lower chamber practically the old machinery employ ed by the peasants in their con- munes and villages for the regulation of petty questions of self-government is employed, and in the cities the machinery for the election of doumas. or town councils, is used. The mem bers of the imperial douma are elect ed by the provincial congresses, com posed of representative of four class es. the peasants, the workmen, the land owners and the city population, as a class. ' ~.
 City Elections.
 Certain of the larger cities, how ever like St. Peer sl,i:.sy, Moscow and Odessa, elect T certt n'imbrr of representatives irrasp ectlvn of the provinces in which tiley are located. Tue numher of sa oi city represerta- ti,es is based upon aggregate rO1u lat on.
 For instance, St. Peters'sUrg elects six men to the D0 'm:. and the pro ceedinss are as fo iciNs: The city is divided into twelve districts, identi- cal with the distric s formed for the election of members of the city c3un- cil In each of these districts a poll ing place is opened under the super vision of a president and commission by the municipality, and here the qualified city voters on a specified day, from 9 o,slock in the morning to o'clock at night, have the privilege of voting for delegates who are to be chosen from each dis. trict ,to the city congress.
 Fhe delegates, or 'viborschiki," as ;|ey are called must be qualified olpctor cool roc;dop+e of fb, d;c+,;o+ The parties, of course, have tickets in the field but the electors vote any elector resident of his district, with cut regard to tickets, if he chooses. Without regard to whether they se- cure majority of the votes actually cast, the five electors receiving the highest number of votes become the of the district.
 Qualifications Low.
 The qualification of the voters in the cities is very low, including prac. tically all except the floating p0p- nlation. In St. Petersburg. for in- stance the registration list totals al- most 10000 in a population of .250,. poo, 5G,000 of whom are debarred be- cause they belong to the army or navy. Neither do the registration lists include the artisans who work in the biz factories and mills. A spe- cial provision is made for the latter as class.
 The workmen of each factory em- ploying over fifty men choose. accord. ing to their numbers, delegates to a general assembly of their own. which, in turn, chooses delegates to the city the case of St. Peters. burg twenty-four
 The city congress. thus made up. presided over by the mayor, chooses rom among it's members representa- tVes to the Douma. This balloting ls conducted by balls. The name of the qualified candidates e. i.. mem- bers of the congress. are read. and after each name is pronounced each delegate deposits, either a black or a hite ball, but for the whole series each delegate has the privilege of casting only six affirmative votes. The process is long and tedious. but it is supposed to give every candi. date an equal chance. The six per sons receiving the highest number are declared elected.
 In the Provinces.
 The members from the provinces are also elected, in the last instance by somewhat similar general con. el ess of delegates representing the va