The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-09-18
Voting Machines.

fnacnlneS by wayne county, us reasons IOr IHlS
persistent opposition are so various, so widely
gathered and conclusive believe many
of readers will not feel the full force of them
until they have been marshalled before them as
a whole Herewith, therefore, give COM
plete resume to date of the facts and factors
which prove so fully the undesirability of the1
vote devices:
We opposed the recent attempt at purchased
by our local authorities because it was so hasty,
so unbusiness-like and so undemocratic. They
did not sufficiently go into the question to war
rant their action Had it not been for the recent
exposure of voting machine graft made in Chi
cago, forcing the Empire concern to sell, and had
the county commissioners purchased the ma
chimes they would probably have involved the
county in long and costly lawsuit At the very
time Mr.. Davis pressing his Empire ma
chimes upon us his company was then deeply en-
quilted in a lawsuit over patents with competing
1t has since lost out in this suit and sold
out to that competitor. Had purchased the
devices and had the suit been prosecuted and car
ried against the Empire company this county
would have had to pay royalties for the use of
it's machines. How much that would have cost
us in delays lawsuits and general expense one
can tell. Yet this is just what our commission
ers came near involving us in by their hasty and
ill-advised action.
The argument put forward here and else
where by the company in the advocacy of its ma
chimes is that they more economical than the
Australian system. This we did not believe nor
do we now after the most careful Investigations
of the subject. The operating cost, truly, would
seem to countenance the theory of their economy
but any possible saving disappears when con-
slider their ultimate cost. Against the first cost
of the machine depreciation, repairs, interest,
drayage, insurance, etc, covering period of
twenty years must be chaked up. When this is
done the average cost per election for machines
will be higher than the average election cost for
the old system.
But we believe that even if the voting
chine were one-half less expensive than the old
system there remain abundant reasons for eject
ing it,
Chief among these we place the fact that vot-
ing machines may be so easily used by crooked
politicians for corrupting an election. This was
clearly shown in the Chicago Investigations
counts of which have appeared in this paper. 1t
was proved by them that there are now actually
in use number of devices and schemes by means
of which elections are controlled 1t also
clearly shown that the election Inspector is the
keystone of the arch of the voting machine sys-
tenn. This man has the first and last interview
with the machine and has to it at any time.
The validity of an entire election therefore hangs
upon him. To risk the registering of the will of
the people on one single Individual is, to say the
least, short-sighted thing to do
If this inspector happens to be the tool of a
political gang he is able to Elk" the internal
mechanism of the machine to misread the count
ers at the end of the day, to paste stckers over
the figures and so conceal the real count, to
loosen the voting reels to permit voters to
push reel ahead and thus cast plural ballot, to
attach or cause to be attached one of number of
devices on the face of the machine to inter-
fere with the mechanism and thus cause a false
registration of ballot cast, and may by getting
reading of the count in the morning and by
comparing it with another reading later in the
day, give his political chiefs tip the way the
vote is going; and, furthermore, may make ar
rangements whereby it is possible to learn how
each individual has voted. When we remember
that he is appointed by the election commission
ers who represent usually the party in power, we
easily that the voting machine ties a
mans ballot to the hands of any political boss
who may happen to be in control. We submit
that this alone is enough to condemn the device
in the eyes of any citizen who cares at all for
the integrity of his franchise.
The political bosses are not restricted in the
scope of their control to the election Inspector
There are many ways by which corrupted voters
may control an election by making the machine
give a false registration. The voter may use the
rubber band device which is so easily adjusted
and difficult of detection; he may insert clips
springs, or slugs in the slots and mechanism on
the face of the machine in such way as to can
eel the ballots cast after him; or he may cast a
plural ballot simply by rapid manipulation of the
voting levers Tins il is seen that the nolitica1