The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-09-12
MACHINES PERMIT
ELECTION FRAUD
Rubber Band Slipped Over
Two Keys Gives False
Vote Count.
BENT WIRES ALSO USED
Butts Commission i'm Chicago
is Shown Ease of
Cheating.
BENT WIRES ALSO USED

was CalIeO 10 the StdnQ 10 SnO" 10 the
committee how a voter could manipu-
late a machine so as TO cast an unfair
ballot. Mr.. Depuy. who for fifteen
years has stood high as an expert en-
gineer and mechanician in Illinois, is
an instructor in Lewis Institute.
One of the devices he exhibited as
having been used by dishonest voters
was a little wire clip, which, when
laid i'll the slot against a lever, made
it imperative. A voter can slip this
into the machine and make it impOs-
sible for the following men TO vote that
particular lever. They pull it back as
far as it will go, he explained, and in
nocently suppose the vote has been
registered. but the clip has prevented
the lever from going back far enough
to move the counters and thus regis
ter Another voter farther down the
line can remove the clip when he votes
and turn it over to a confederate to
be reinserted at a favorable oppor-
tunity.
Cheating Device.
Another device used for the same
purpose was shown to the committee
by Mr.. DePuy. This was a wire bent
the extreme end slightly bent at right
angles to the curve. By laying this in
the slot with the bent end pushed
through into the inner mechanism a
! lever will not move the counter reel
and SO will not register the vote. This
device, Mr.. DePuy said, was widely
used by corrupt voters in a number OF
precincts in Chicago.
Another device produced by the ex-
pert was called the angle-steel." This
is made of thin metal OF the same col
or as the nickel trimmings Of the
machine and laid in a lever slot edge
so as to be invisible to the voter. When
he pulls back the lever this piece OF
metal will not permit the lever to re-
treat far enough to move the counter
reels. AS a result dozens of voters
may intend to cast their ballot for a
given candidate yet really not once
vote for him. In order not to rob the
man of all his votes and so engender
suspicion confederates at reasonable
intervals remove the device or rein
sert it and thus manage during the
day to deprive him of enough votes
for election. This piece of metal, Mr..
DePuy said, could be made by any pu-
pill in the manual training schools.
Rubber Band Device.
Another device the expert had to ex-
hibit to the committee was the rubber
band which, when slipped over two or
more keys, will give a false count in
the reels. These bands are invisible
to the voters and easily slipped off
and on, he said.
Representatives of the Empire COM
pany were on hand during the pro-
ceedings and tried to have the expert
testimony thrown out but were unsuc-
cessfnl.
On a machine tested and pronounced
satisfactory by the company's experts,
Mr.. DePuy secretely slipped one of his
devices and then showed how, after
the voting levers had been used, the
count came up at wide variance with
the vote.
Other Methods.
Mr. DePuy also showed how simp-
ly by rapid manipulation of the lev
ers a false vote could be cast. He
said mere rapidity of action would
often throw the reels off and show up
a wrong count. The expert had mem
bers of the investigating committee
try this to convince them that it could
be done.
the little devices used by crooked
election inspectors to open the ma
chine in order to elk" it's internal
mechanism. He showed how by slip
ping out one Of the pawls, reel
could be loosened; and how, when the
voter has pulled the lever, he can slip
moistened finger through a slot and
push the reel ahead and so vote more
than once. Several persons at the in
vestigation tried this and seemed con-
WINGED it could be done. From the
facts unearthed lin the election
frauds investigations it seems that
this was one of the favorite devices
employed for defeating prescribed can
didates.
Mr.. DePuy also showed the investi-
gators that man may lose his vote
by failing to push the voting lever far
enough back. He thinks he has voted
but the machine has made no count.
A little instruction passed among in
nocent foreigners not to pull the lev
er too hard lest they break the ma
chine was emphasized by the expert
as the danger to fair elections caused
by this one defect of the mechanism.
When VIM. Wooley, a mechanical
expert of Chicago, was called to the
stand and asked if he considered the
Empire voting machine proof against
fraudulent manipulation he replied
with emphasis. The machine can be
beat no machine is fool-proof nor
villian-p proof" Although he had no de-
vice to exhibit other than those al
ready shown by the experts who had
previously testified he declared me-
chanics could invent many devices to
get ahead OF the Empire machine.
1t is against the election commits
/ sioners, consisting of Messrs. Keller
man. Taylor and Czarnecki that this
probe is directed. During the proceed
ings ii developed that the expert" en-
gagged by them and recommended by
W. II. Barr, representative OF the
Empire company had never seen a vot-
ing machine until after he had accept
ed the position. The investigating
committees own experts, DePuy. Oh
son and Wooley. were able at every
point TO tangle the city's gexpert"
They said that if an experienced me
chanic. such as This gentleman was,
could be so completely deceived by
the devices used by crooked voters
there would be little chance of the
average man to detect them when he
entered the election booth