The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1912-03-27
the proper precinct with no chance o.
getting there until after o'c lock.


vote and in many Of the outlying cleo
tion districts the ballots were not received
until after the time for closing the polls.
The ballots for the Independence League
party led the van into Queens. They
were followed by the ballots for the Social
lists. which arrived at 4:20. and were fol-
lowed at $50 o'clock by big furniture
moving van containing the Republican
and Democratic ballots The first stop
ping place was the 275th police precinct.
IN Fourth street Long Island City, where
the men in charge of the delivery. began
sorting their load IL appeared they
had ballots for about all the twelve police
station precincts in the borough. At the
Election bureau it was understood that
the deliveries were being made in num-
Der of fast going taxicabs. Theron II.
Burden, Republican leader in tho First
Assembly district. which comprises Long
Island City, called at the bureau Of cleo
tions and announced that unless he re-
ceived the official ballot in time for voting
he would print ballots OF his own and have
ms followers present them at the polling
places. He said he was not going to
see his followers disfranchised through
a fault Of the election bureau in the
delivery of the ballots.
At Democratic headquarters in 81
jackson avenue. Long Island City. Demo-
cratic Leader Daniel +. Shea hired an
automobile and went out in pursuit of
the furniture van.
According TO its schedule the van
after leaving Long Island City was to
go to Astoria and then make for the 277
precincts III Newtown, then to the 278th
~ ecinct in Flushing and its routes in
cluded the Rockaways and Glendale
and Ozone Park. III allowed to try and
cover the route it would not reach the
outlying precincts until after midnight
Pursued by an automobile brigade it
was hoped that the van might be relieved
OF part of its load.
When Capt Maudc. in charge of the
Fourth street precinct in Long Island
City. got ready To make deliveries to
the ten election districts in his precinct
he found that Democratic ballots from
the First TO and including the Eighth
Election district were missing. while the
First, Third and Fourth Election district
Republican ballots were also missing
This left for the Democrats ballots for
only the Ninth and Tenth districts and
for the Republicans seven out OF the ten
districts. The missing ballots probably
went on tour of the borough in the fur
niture van and may turn up somewhere
sometime to-day.
Half Richmond Got No Ballots.
In Richmond the ballots were delivered
in only twenty out of the forty-five cleo
ton districts. The earliest ballots to
be delivered got TO the polling places
did not ger there until $50 or 3d. The
Tolls were closed Just the same at 8
o clock. The police learned that the
ballots for the twenty-five districts which
never did get any ballots at all went to
Far Rockaway by mistake.
When the ballots did not arrive at the
polling places at the time they were ex-
pected George l.. Nichols, chairman of
the Republican county committee, and a
score of other Republicans drove to the
West Brighton police station in auto
mobiles and asked Capt. Young about it.
The captain had not seen most Of the
ballots yet, and never did see them.
Nichols and his men waited until Z o'clock
and then called up the Bureau of Elections
in New York. They were told there that
the ballots were on the way. After an
other wait Nichols and the others made
a rush for typewriters and unofficial bal
lots We're prepared. They then toured
the homes of the voters in automobiles.
distributing these home made ballots.
by y clock the polling places were
swamped with voters armed with these
typewriter substitutes. The election
inspectors, however, got in communica-
tion with the bureau Of Elections and
were instructed not to permit the voting
of the unofficial ballots.
Roosevelt Blames Machine.
The Roosevelt committee insisted that
trouble in an effort to keep he pla in
people from votin K for Roosevelt but
President Britt Of the Board OF Elections
and oificias OF the Martin Il. Brown Com
pany said that the "miN-up." as Presid ent
Britt characterized il was solely the fault
OF the Roosevelt committee which had
tied up the printers with court orders for
a week after the print ng Of the ballots
should have been under way, par of the
ballots which had been printed had to
be thrown away, and the job is five times
as big as for IA general election b ecalise
each party gets "A bIllot. Tne Martin
B. Brown Company has been printing
I'd delivering the ballots To ( he police
successfully for years. although in former
elections it has had close calls because
Of injunctions and app eals at the eleventh
hour. his year the company was
swamped.
Late in the afternoon. when police all
over he city were appealing to the Board
of Ele ctions for ballots, and the commits
soners of election were sending the ap-
peals along to the printing company.
Delay Laid to Ro oseveit Campaigners.
President Britt of the Board OF Elections
said yesterday:
1T is true that there has been some
mixup in the distribution OF the ballots
The contract was let by the Board of
Elections to the NJ. b. Brown Printing
has printed the official ballots for use at
the general election for many years and
which has never failed to properly deliver
the same. But this task Of supplying the
primary ballots is just five times grea ter
than tho task Of supplying the official
ballots for n general election. inasmuch
as there must be five separate ballots
printed, one for each party. In all Justice
To the printer. vino also is under contract
To deliver these ballots, it must be stated
that the printing concern was hampered
by the obtaining of court orders and liti-
CATION as to the position which the dele
gates named by the Roosevelt committee
vera to occupy on the official ballot. This
litigation continued up TO the last min
ute. protested TO the Court of Appeals
on March II that it was physically inn
possible at that time to make the changes
on The ballot prayed for by Judge
Duell and made a personal call the same
day on Justice lngraham, presiding JUS
tice of the AppellatesDivision. and asked
him to entertain no further proceedings
before the court, inasmuch as the time to
ma ke alterations on the ballot had passed
and it was physically impossible TO COM
gentleman. Mr.. Duell OF the Roosevelt
committee, who saw fit to bring the mat
ter to the Court of Appeals. could have
begun his proceedings a month ago, as
it was on February 27, 1912, that the Board
of Elections designated the order in which
the names of the delegates to the Repub-
lican national convention should appear
on the ballot. II was not until March
II that he began to take any action. The
situation simply proves that we must
1 have some legislation limiting the time