The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-10-18
H OPEN VOTE.

In these days of Australian ballots.
with the casting Of Il vote guarded at
every point SD that no man eau pos
sibly know how il was cast, we nave
become SO accustomed TO the secrecy
of the ballot tina We arc apt to for
get that there was cNer any other
system of voting. of course the Aus
tralian ballot is Il relatively new thing,
but prior to- its use the ballot VAS Ill
general use throughout the United
States. a man does not need to he
which was printed 10y the campaign
committee M by Il candidate in his
OWN interest, and which might be vot-
ed quite openly, and was SO voted
quito often, when u uuid pro quo fol-
lowed the casting of the vote.
Persons who lived in Canada a lit
tie over forty years g. can recall
another style of voting which was in
vogue there aud which for real cleo
ton excitement had the old ballot Uf
this country beaten u mile. This was
the open oral vote. Most Americans
have " seen it those who
have not seen it have missed a lot.
Imagine the polling place on cleo
ton day at the close of a rot cam
paign. The election officials sit at
a long table with poll lists and record
books. In front the is crowd
ed with partisans Of tho I've candi-
dates all eagerness for the victory
which they expect. Enter a voter. He
is asked his name and gives it. The
poll list is consulted and the man is
cund to be a legal voter. Dead 81
lence prevails throughout the com
The presiding officer sitting like the
recording angel witt, pen poised over
book, asks For whom do you vote:"
Perhaps apologetically, perhaps in a
whisper and perhaps in a roar comes
h answer, but it one way or another
Then bed]am breaks forth. The parti-,
cams Of Smith clap their hands and
cheer. The partisans Of Jones hiss
and gr"an. The..voter r%etires,. to Ike
congratulated by his friends and de:
ridcd by his opponents, IN the next
man comes to the front.
1t is Easy to see how such a meth
cd lent itself to the production Of
Some exciting scenes. We believe that
expressions of approval or disapprov-
al we're moi ct rir-tl,. ,.ce.iI1or 1,t <ta,-
were CUSTOMARY. and there was really
no way to preventing some exhibition
cf feeling. And, when that express
sion grated TOO harshly on the sensi-
bilities Of a member of the opposite
faction there was likely to- he an in
Nitation into the alley to settle matters
then and there, and blows have even
been struck in the august presence
Of the election board.
Aside from the tendency Just noted
n open vote practice was productive
of thrills Of another kind. IT was
the duty Of some member OF each
party to keep tab on the votes cast,
SO that at any hour Of the day il vas
- INSt ION luS NOLS WdS running
in any precinct. The telephone was
not yet born, and the automobile, Of
course. had not been thought of. Car
fiages were used for conveying in
formation to headquarters when there
was not much interest in the contest,
but in a really close fight, with both
sides warmed up to their work, the
carriage was too slow, and the man
on horseback Was called into rcquis-
ition. Mounted couriers galloped
from precinct to Headquarters, and
carried news of how the fight went,
how many men had voted, and which
way. The committee that found its
candidate running behind redoubled
its exertions, and sent other messen-
gers to round up more votes and get
them to the polls. Pure election laws
which prohibit the carrying Of voters
to the polls were not in existence, and
wagons load with cheering voters.
and hauled by gallopinE horses. would
swing up to the polling place. deposit
their loads. and dash off again after
more. while all the while the tally
men kept count, and the couriers gal
loped back and forth. Napoleon new
or had a more exciting time at Aus
terlitz or Waterloo than many OF
those OLD election managers had at
the polls in Canada back about 10.
The Australian ballot superseded
the open vote in the early seventies,
and a lot of fun was taken out Of the