Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-11-04
First Attempt at Mechanical
Voting in Des Moines Rat
ties Judges
GREAT CONFUSION
CREATE
Many Votes Supposed to Have Been
Lost by Failure to Understand oper-
ation-Innocen,t Air Worn by john
Richards Committee Good as a
Comedy.
Special to Times-Republlcan.

t Des Moines, Nov. 4.-The use Of vot-
ing machines in Des Moines brought
out many new and curious phases Of
! election methods. Early in the morn
| ing the judges at some OF the large
| precincts were little less than COM
pletely ratified" Your correspondent
voted in University Place, where over
900 were registered. He moved up in
line With $50 persons. He secured his
Eprilnslry ballot from fireman who sat
smoking and had nothing else to do
but hand out primary ballots. The
Judges were SO busy they did not know
whether anybody was voting at the
primary After voting on the ma
chine a new set of judges and clerks
was found. They were handling the
city hall election and registered all
who wanted to vote. With two city
ballots and a primary in his hand the
writer asked who wanted. them.
20, stuff them into that can over
there
And that was just what the voter
did The primary ballot Went IN
where the city bond propositions We're
deposited. The judges of election
neither handled the primary ballot be-
fore voting or afterwards. This was
in The college precinct of the city.
The use of the machines created
great confusion. AS a rule those who
but doubtless many lost their votes. or
failed to vote as they desired because
of lack of familiarity with the ma
chimes.
The innocent air of the Richards
Johnston committee was as good as a
comedy. AT 3 o'clock Tuesday morning
they had their man Quint call up the
governor by phone and beg of him
to have the papers suppress the facts
regarding the various fakes and roor-
backs and Quint pleaded that he knew
nothing about them. OF course the
governor is not engaged in running
newspapers. To Judge Prouty the
Riclnsrds-Johnston committee protest.
ed that it knew nothing of the iowa
Bryan club fake and further that
they had not and would not make any
accusations against anybody or at
tempt to lead the voters to think it
was Il part of the Cummins scheme.
But already Richards had sent to the
anti-Cummins newspapers with de-
mand that it be inserted, telegram
accusing Jerry Sullivan of doing it in
the interest of Cummns. Sullivan
MOS oh of roll
Tuesday afternoon. He had just re-
turned from the east and of course
he branded the accusation as wholly
without excuse. No one who know
Sullivan would ever accuse him, ex-
cep- in malice, of such a clumsy
scheme.
G. ID. HELEN. a Lacey worker yester-
day noon created a sensation at the
city hall and later elsewhere in the city
seeking to arrest persons known as
cunrnins men at the polls
At the city hall he tried to have job!
Lucas. James Washington and Ed Coz
don arrested for working at the pollins-
place He got them into the police
court and they sent for Judge Prouty.
Judge Prouty took along G.. G.. AIcCar-
thy, to go on the boys bonds.
Arriving at the hall Judge Prouty
suggested that he would file informa-
lions against Johnston and other Lacey
for violation of the primary
law. If the informations against Lucas
and the others We're filed, whereupon
Mr. HELEN decided to retire.
AS a matter Of fact Lucas and the
other men We're inside the polling place
offering blank requests for senatorial
ballots to republicans as they entered
to save time in the voting. They We're
not asked by the judges to retire and
We're not working at the polls in the
sense covered by the law which uses
the word eleetioneering.
Later in the afternoon HELEN went TO
police headquarters and filed informa-
ton against DIR. c. A. Webb and j. K.
Macomber. who We're handing out pri-
mary request blanks at the polling
place in the Third precinct of the First
ward He ordered them to move 100
feet away from the polls. and when
they refused he hurried to the police
station and filed the informations be-
fore Judge Stewart. The specific
charge against them is violating the
election laws.
A policeman went to the polling place |
and Mr.. Macombsr accompanied him
yKINIOHOTInXI AIN n