Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-11-15
CLOSE THE POLLS r

0H~N
1t is hard to believe that anything good could come out
of Hudson county as far as politics is concerned, but a move
ment has actually been started up there in regard to elections
that is worthy of the utmost consideration and support.
The Hudson Dispatch has begun a campaign for the
amendment of the elections laws that will close the polls on
Election Day at 3 O'Clock instead of at 7 o'clock as at present.
People are urged to sign a blank petition which the Dispatch
prints to be forwarded to the Hudson county delegation in
the state legislature in an effort to have them vote for such
an amendment.
Advocating the closing of the polls at 5 O'CLOCK is moth
ing new for the EVENING NEWS. The wisdom of this has
been apparent for a long time and we have frequently urged
it. We therefore heartily second the move made by the Hud-
son Dispatch and trust that should a bill come before the
legislature to change the closing hour of the polls from 7 to 5
O'Clock the MiddIesex delegation will be found lined up solldly
for it.
There are plenty of arguments in favor of such a change,
but we have heard no real argument for continuing the present
hour Of closing. The fact that the polls are opened at e o'clock
in the morning gives every working man who does not get a
holiday on Election Day an opportunity to vote before he goes
to work if he cannot find the time during the remainder OF the
day before 5 o'clock to cast his ballot. But the fact is that
Election Day is pretty generally observed as a holiday and the
men are given all day in which to vote.
1t has been found upon investigation that 1T is usually the
man who has had the whole day off that goes to the polls after
5 o'clock to cast his ballot. The man who is working on Elec-
ton Dav is very ant to be the man who votes early while on his
way to work.
But the main argument advanced by the Hudson Dispatch
in favor of the change is the long hours that the election officers
are called upon to put in. Going on duty at 3 o'clock In Inc
morning on Election Day these men work steadily until mid
night and sometimes later before they are through. Their
hardest work does not begin until after the polls close. After
such a long, tying day at the polls, while the voting is going on
the men are not in fit condition to begin the exacting work Of
counting ballots, yet the counting of the ballots is the most
important work. A clear brain and a steady nerve are required.
By closing the polls at 5 o'clock the election officers would
have a two hours earlier start and they would not only be in
better physical condition to begin the tedious task of countingl
the votes, but they would be through that much earlier, being
able to go home by 10 or II o'clock.
Another argument for closing the polls early is the fact
that November days are short and it is dark after 5 o'clock
u IS in the darkness that most of the corruption takes place.
Al the present time there is more crookedness and corruption
at an election during the two hours after 5 P. M. that the polls
are open, than during all the rest of the day. An early closing
of the polls would eliminate this to a large extent.
New York, for years, closed her polls at 5 o'clock and
we have heard Of no one suffering thereby. New York is an
even greater manufacturing state than New Jersey. The men
who have to work on Election Day in New York found no diff
fculty in casting their ballot. There would be no difficulty in
New Jersey once the early closing is put into effect. The lateI
hour is merely a custom that we have become used to, and GUS
tom is the hardest thing to change. But once the closing of
the polls at 5 o'clock is put into effect its advantages will be
readily apparent to all.