Connecticut western news., 1910-09-29
MARK YOUR BALLOT RIGHT

ing towns, there is much confusion on the eve of election in understanding the marking of the modernized or curtailed Australian ballot which will this year be used for the first time at the fall town election next Monday. The method is quite simple if you follow instructions. Just bear this in mind.
 The tickets will come folded from the secretary of state and after having been marked by the voter must be re- folded in the original creases, with the coupon uppermost. When deposited on the box the boxtender will tear off the coupon, which will be dropped in a seperate receptacle, and the number of tickets in the box when the polls are closed must be the same as the num- Der of coupons in the coupon box. No envelopes will be used and no ballots can be secured except from the official distributors at the polls, and any wrongly marked, torn or defaced by the voter must be returned to the off cial distributor and another secured.
 The directions are very plain and ex- plicit and are as follows: "This ballot shall be marked with a pencil having black lead." This does not mean red, blue, nor any other color but black, and any other pencil used will invah- date the ballot. "To vote a straight ticket make an x within the circle above the name republican or demo- crat or blank column, as the case may be-" The use of the last named ool- umn is explained further on. This X must be within the circle and not sprawled all over the ballot, as the lat ter has been held to invalidate the bal lot in other states where this form has been used.
 There is another proyiso that may cause some confusion in some cases, and this is the following: "If the ticket marked in the circle for straight ticket does not contain the names of candidates for all the offices for which the elector desires to vote he shall, in addition to the crossmark X made in the circle herein before required vote for candidates for such offices so. omit ted by marking a crossmark, X, be- fore the names of the candidate for such office in another column of this ticket or by writing the name, if not printed upon the ballot, in the blank column, under the title of the office." Now, this does not mean that 8 ticket omit ting the names of candidates for some of the offices to be voted for must be filled out in the manner mentioned, but that the voter may thus fill it out if he so desires. @
 The next clause in the instructions is very important one and is as fol lows: Any other mark shan the cross mark, X, used for the purpose of voting will render this ballot void" This eff fectually prevents the scratching" of nlmes and all the other antics used in the old style ballot, usually to indicate a feeling of animosty against certain candidates. If this is done in any form under the new law it will render the entire ticket void and useless.
 In front of the name of every candi- date is a space ruled with heavy black lines, forming rectangle, and in this space can be made the crossmark, X, like that used in the circle at the top, and the use of this is explained in the following paragraph: "To vote a split ticket, that is, for candidates of differ ent parties, the voter shall make @ crossmark, X, before the name of each candidate for whom he votes, not ap- bearing in She column which he has designated by an X in the circle at its head"
 By the use of the blank column, however, an entirely different ticket from any of these printed under the party heads may be voted, or if the voter does not wish to vote for any of the candidates for any particular of- flee whose names appear under the ti- tie of that office in any of the other col umns he can write the name of his choice for that office in the blank col umn. This makes it possible for a cit izen's movement or any third party movement for any particular office to have the name of it's candidate written in the blank column by those who be- heve in that party, without there hay ing been any caucus held for the nom- ination of such candidate.
 EARN THE IECS0N