The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-11-10
This Doesn't Include Wear and
Tear ON Officials.
IMMEDIATE CHANGE NEEDED
Voting Machines or Hourly
Count Necessary.
Protests to Present System
From All Over Kansas.


eral, Of the present year. cost Shaw
nee county a tris,e less than $4,000.
The bills thus Tar approved (. by the
county auditor II tai $5,779.24 and
there are a few more to come; the
cost of the primary in August having
been $2,962.59, while the bills so far
paid for the genera. election last week
having reached $2,S16.65.
This does not count the wear and
tear on the bodies and nerves of cleo
ton officials Ind tho public which par
ticipated in the election and waited in
suspense for a couple of days after
ward to find how 1t came out. James
E. Larimer, county auditor, predicts
that something viii, be done to the
present plan of holding elections to
eliminate the physical strain and long
delay in getting returns after the polls
have closed. Comments on the diff
culties to members of election boards
attendant upon the counting of the
vote have been sc. general, says Lari-
mer, that the call for relief amounts
donna. Larimer's reply to it is about
as follows.
Need New System.
1--WE are probably going to have to
adopt one of two important changes
for future elections: we'll have to have
voting machines or else adopt the plan
of making hourly counts of the votes
AS IS QOue III some OF the eastern
states. Service on election boards has
become too much Of an endurance
test. Some Of tn. judges and clerks
who served last week haven't recover
ed from the strain yet. AS time wears
on and more votes are cast the condi-
ton will become worse If unrelieved."
Larimer has been at some pains to
inform himself about the election prac-
tices of other states and has been an
interested observer of Kansas expert
ence with the new Massachusetts bal
lot. No objections Of an important
character have been raised against the
Massachusetts, ballots. so far as he has
observed. save that it takes more time
to count. =
There are no objections of an impor-
tant character to the voting machine"
said he today. but they might be
largely relieved If a plan could be de-
vised by which the counties Of the state
could rent them from the manufactur-
ing company instead Of purchasing
them. Such mechanism Is necessarily
delicate. If owned by a country town
ship, for example, it would -proba bly,
be stored in a barn or cellar during the
two-year waits between elections. The
village blacksmith would be charged
with its repair when 1t became clog
ged with rust and dust and the result
would almost inevitably be trouble aft
t few years of such treatment. Vot-
ing machines have been priced at $500
each. which represents the cost of sew
eral elections on the present plan.
ut may be that an ARRANGEMENT
could be made by which liberal rental
could be paid to the manufacturing
company. leaving 1t charged with the
responsibility for keeping the machines
in good working order. No machine
is exempt from accident and when used
only every other year voting machine
would be always open to suspicion. un-
less kept in the care of the most ex-
pert Of mechanics. il-f
Suggests Hourly Count.
IA simpler plan would be the adop-
ton Of the hourly count. This would
require the appointment of two more
members on each election board maxi
Ing seven instead OF five. Two sets of
ballot boxes would be provided and ev-
cry hour the boxes would be exchanged,
the three members charged with TAX
ing the tally of voters working in the
same building but separated from the
other four judges and clerks who are
employed in handing out and clipping
the ballots.
1.-The cost of the extra election officers
would probably be considerably more
than counterbalanced by the possible
savings in cutting down the time now
necessary for counting, which in some
precincts is almost two days. Mem
bers of election board are now paid at
the rate of 50 for the first 200 votes
cast and one cent each for additional
votes. One dollar extra is paid to the
supervisor who returns the county vote
to the county clerk.
IAN hourly count would clean up the
counting within an hour or two after
the closing Of the polls. making the
final vote In any election known on
the same night and eliminating the
weary work now required. It would be
necessary to keep the vote secret until
counted. but this practice is success
fully followed in other states and could
be in Kansas. A readjustment of the
pay schedule would proba bly, lessen the
cost even with the increased number of
judges and clerks"
Some Change Probable.
From all over Kansas has come
newspaper and private protest against