The farmer and mechanic., 1912-01-16


IN which l advocated the system Of
preferential voting in the senatorial
primary. l was taking for granted
then that there would be such q pri .
mary to settle the contest among Ay
cock. Clark, kitchin and Simmons.
The newspaper report Of a recent con-
ference between Senator Simmons and /
Judge Clark states that each Of these
gentlemen favOrs o senatorial primary |
election to be held at the time of the
general election next November. /
Though l have seen no public state
ment on the subject from either Gov
ernor Kitchin or Ex-Governor Aycock,
/ presume that they either favor q
primary or will acQuieSce in the hold
Ing of one in case the people Of the
State indicate a desire for primary.
Assuming that there will be sena-
tOrlal primary either on the general
election day or at some other time
between now and the next session Of
the Legislature, | desire in this article
to treat more in detail the system of
preferential voting, hoping to answer
some of the questions Of voters who
are interested in the system, but who
do not understand how it is worked
out; and, further, to arouse interest
in some Of the voters who have here
tOfOre been Indifferent about the mat
ter.
I. What IL Preferential Voting?
Preferential voting Is that system
Of voting which gives the voter
chance to vote for more than one
candidate for the same office in such
way as to indicate which candidate
is his first choice for the office, which
his second, and SO on according TO
the number of candidates. prefer
entail ballot is one which, when prop
erly marked, indicates the voters
opinion Of the relative merits of the
candidates. SupnOse A, =, and d
are four Democratic candidates for
nomination to the office Of Governor
The voter, X, likes b best of all, likes
& we'll and would vote for him If B
were not in the race; has a kindly
feeling for A, and would put him next
after G, and thinks least Of all Of D,
and would put him at the bottom Of
the list. Under the present system
of voting, can cast his ballot for 3
only. and can express no choice as to
the other candidates. Under the sys-
TEN of preferential voting; on the
other hand, X can still cast his ballot
for Is, but he can also indicate that
c is his second choice, A his third. and
D. his last choice.
2. Where Has Preferential Voting
Been Tried?
Preferential voting, in one form or
another, is not new. It was adopted
in some Of the English provinces as
early as 1880. 1t is now In force in
Tasmania, in Australia, in South
Africa, as we'll as in some other for
eign countries. In 1913 King Edward
Of England, appointed a Royal Com
mission on Systems of Elections. This
commission reported In favor Of the
system OF preferential voting in the
Parliamentary elections
In the United States the city OF
Grand junction, Colorado, took the
lead. and that several years ago. Pref
erential voting was employed in the
State Of Washington as early as 1907
and in Idaho in 1909. In 1910, Mary.
land provided for preferential voting
In the nomination of State officers
The first election under this law was
held in August, 1911. Both North
Dakota and Wisconsin, at the last ses
Sions of their respective Legislatures
provided for preferential voting IL
primary elections.
Preferential voting has been EN-
plOyed mostly, it seems, in municipa
elections, where the tickets were non
partisan. But it can be applied equal
~ we'll in primary elections.
3. Has Preferential Voting Been Salts
factory Where Tried?
No election has yet been held unde
the Wisconsin preferential voting Law
and presumably none under the NOrtl
Dakota statute. But Dr. Charles Nc
Carthy, head Of the Legislative Refer
ence Library Of Wisconsin, who ha
made a careful study Of the differen
methods Of voting, says in a lette,
81 see no difficulty in voting unde
this law. 1t will take little longe
time to count it, but notice how sim
pie the tally sheet is
Speaking of preferential voting IL
Grand Junction, where it has had tn.
longest trial in this country, the Hon
James w. Buckiin says: Il am con
Vnced, both from theory and from
actual practice, that our system O
preferential ballot. as adopted by thi