The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1916-04-13
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1915.
Sacrificing Efficiency to Convenience.

Kenosha is sacrificing efficiency in
voting to convenience. The city mas
been doing this for some time, but there
are lot of people in the city who are
Of the opinion that the day Of the vot-
INC machine for Kenosha elections. is
decidedly limited. Nearly every one
who studies the returns Of elections is
convinced that the voting machine is
not the best way to register the Will OF
the people. It is convenient; it makes
possible an early answer to the ques-
ton, "Who is eIected9"; it lessons in
some degree the work to be done by the
election officials in charge Of the varl-
GUS voting places; it is fashionable and
up to date All of these things can be
urged in favor of the voting machine,
but against these things is the big item
that it is a handicap to the people in
expressing their will at the polls.
Most people know how to vote on a
machine, but even with this knowledge
the machine is under fire by the people
who know it best and who best under
stand its shortcomings.
With a paper ballot and stub of a
pencil the average man will go clear
down the line and vote for every office
on the ticket. Pulling levers is anoth-
err proposition. 1t involves a sort of
mental drill to which he is not familiar
and which becomes irksome.
The booth made up by the encircling
curtains of the voting machine is often
dark and it iShard to find names. The
average voter is proud. He does not
want the inspector to know that he has
trouble voting a ballot on G machine
and rather than ask for help he stabs
about blindly at the lever and votes
for some candidates he favors and some
he does not, but he gets it over with
just as soon as possible and pushes
back the king lever and leaves the
machine.
An examination of the machine vote
at the last election is a terrible arraign-
ment of the machine for it shows that
hundreds of people in the city did not
vote for all the candidates. It can be
said that with one or two exceptions
the result of the election might have
been changed if the ballots return
ed "blank" might have been added
to the list cast for the losing
candidate. The machine is not human
even though it makes few mis-
takes. 1t can not call out to the voter
that the lever which registers a vote
for a certain candidate is way down in
the corner of the list and on this ac-
count the candidate so placed must
stand the loss of hundreds of votes.
Judge Belden was pretty nearly a
thousand votes short of the number
cast for mayor in Kenosha. He did
not get nearly as many votes as either
of the candidates for mayor simply be-
cause the voters could not find his name
on the machine. He probably would
have received no less than 5000 votes
In Kenosha had the voters been given
chance to register their choice on a
paper ballot. The candidate who is
lucky enough to have his name begin
with one of the letters in the first part
of the alphabet has a big advantage
when the voting machine is used. He
is on the first line and the first lever
on the machine is one that is liable to
get a lot of votes from timid men and
women who do not want to take time
nm lN,,4
carrying out their constitutional right
to vote. Voting by paper ballot is old
fashioned, but in a lot of cities the
officials have refused to be in style at
the cost of efficient election methods.
Many of the cities of this and other
states have voting machines stored
away in the easements of public build
1ngs and they will never be brought
out again. The people who return to
the ballots after the use of the ma
chine care not for the expenditure that
the city has made for the machines
they are unanimous in the demand for
the paper ballot. If we were to con
suit our own convenience in the matter
we would be shouting for the machine,
but looking from the standpoint of the
square deal to the candidate and the
square deal to the people who vote, it
IS easy to see that the voting machine
is q failure.
With county and national election
where there are many Straight bal
loto cast the machine might be of value.
However, even at such elections voting
tHe split ticket becomes something of
q. harden to the average voter.
Elections are held with a view of
getting the best possible expression of
the people and any one who cares to
go into statistics can see that this is
not secured by the voting machine.
There is always desire to know