Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-27

learn whether the bribed has kept the COM
pact. 1t had not been long adopted. how
ever. until schemers had devised means of
defeating its purposes. But this they have
been unable to do without the co-opera ton
Of the voter. That they might be assured
that the votes which they paid for were
cast, they required each bribed voter to
write his name some understood sign
on his ticket before dropping 1t in the box,
the party watcher Identifying 1t at the
final counting. This fraud has been large
ly prevented in some states by laws requir
ing all votes with distinguishing marks to
be thrown out. Another trick was for the
bribed voter to prove his faith by holding
his ballot in sight of the party watcher
while casting it. This practice has been
nipped in the bud by laws requiring all
ballots to be cast In sealed official en-
velopes and by forbidding all persons ex-
cept the official registrars to come within
a certain distance Of the polls for any pur
pose other than that Of voting. Similar
laws have also put an end to the fraud of
having a friend" accompany the bribed
voter to the polls on the pretense of the
the legal forms Of voting without help. The
envelope system has also largely put an
end to the old fraud Of 'stuff1ng." which.
however. was at its height in the days
when one party only had charge Of the
ballot inspection. It was most skfllfully
accomplished by folding two or more bal
lots together that they might appear like
one-all but one being sometimes of tissue
paper. Counterfeiting tickets by printing
the name Of one party over the candidates
Of another or by substituting one or more
names on the opposite party's ticket has
also been prevented by the Australian sys-
teIa embodying the blanket ballot.
Portable Booths and Voting Machines
Ballot reformers have also demanded
that the polling places be free from all
private influences. To insure this condi-
ton small portable buildings of sheet iron
how oda tad in oil y,a;v
owned by the municipality or state and
set up in the highways or on some pub
lie grounds shortly prior to election day.
These metallic polling places suggest the
term 'hygienic." Indeed they are intended
to be proof against the bacilli Of stealth
and the microbes of fraud. Every side Is
exposed to the glare Of publicity. There
is no saloon annex or side-door dive con-
nection. Many cities, however. still set up
their polling places in rooms rented from
merchants or householders-s
from saloonkeepers.
A still further step is the much mooted
voting machine. another outgrowth Of the
Australian ballot system. In one form or
another this device will be useed in this
falls election in ten states, which have
either authorized its employment or re-
ferred its adoption to local option. These
are Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey. Ohio,
Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin. Kansas, Ne
braska and California. It has also been
legaiized by Congress for use in federal
elections. The voter using one Of these
contrivances enters a curtained cabinet
and finds before him placarded names ar
ranged in vertical columns and horizontal
rows. Looking up and down any one col
umn he sees the names of all candidates for
the same office: or, reading from left to
right. he finds all Of the candidates of the
same party. At the left end Of each horl-
zontal row he finds the party emblem and
a lever, knob or button which he turns,
pulls or pushes-according to the make of
the machine-to vote a straight ticket In
order to scratch his ticket he manipulates
individual levers, knobs or buttons under
the various candidates names and finally
records his vote with large lever which
the curtain Of the booth. The next voter
entering sets the machine by a lever clos
ing the curtain. Another machine has a
gate which serves the same purpose and no
opening the booth a second time and at
tracing the attention Of the officials at
the polls. These machines have interlock-
ing devices preventing votes being cast
FOR more than one candidate for the same
office. By device similar to that en-
bodied in cash registers or arithmometers
all votes are automatically recorded and
added as fast as cast. The last voter hav-
ing left the booth, the back of the machine
Is unlocked by the supervisors of elections,
who. acting together, find the total for
each candidate given on an Indicator. The
vote being automa tically as well as secretly
counted. there is no waiting for a count
after the polls are closed Some of these
machines can record votes at the rate OF
two a minute. The complete returns Of
over 10000 ballots cast by voting machines
In Milwaukee few years ago were given
out at headquarters seventy-two minutes
after the polls closed.
Duelists and Bettors Barred.
Some odd restrictions limit the ballot In
various states. Duelists, for example, are
forbidden to vote in Virginia, Florida and
Michigan, while bettors on elections are ex-
cluded in New York. Florida and Wiscon-
sin. Camp followers of an army would be
tabooed in the territorial election of New
Mexico were war now on. and dishonor-
ably discharged soldiers are shut out in
Iowa, as are rebels in Kansas and Minne-
ma, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, |
Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas,
Virginia and Wisconsin, the only require
ment being that they previously declare
their intention to eventually become citi-
zens.
Clergymen voters are especially favored
by Mississippi. Kansas and South Carolina
where they can cast a ballot after living
only six months tn the state, whereas all
other suffragists must have maintained
same special privilege Is extended to public
school teachers in South Carolina.
Ancestral and Religious Restrictions.
Indeed, many states. by imposing educa-
tional and property qualifications. as well
as those Of ancestry. repudiate the theory
that suffrage Is an inherent right of every
man. AS matter of fact, our colonial an
cestors, as well as many of the fathers of
grant the privilege of the ballot only to
certain especially qualified individuals.