The Carlisle independent., 1920-10-07
MILLIONS OF BALLOTS

The most accurate and far reach ing straw vote of any presidential election ever attempted in this coun- try is now under way. Millions of ballots will be cast in this test vote, and at least two weeks before Mo- vember elections those who follow this straw vote will be able to tell without fear of contradiction who is to be the next occupant of the white house, and by how many votes he will win.
 In order to accomplish this titanic task eight thousand Rexall Drug Stores in the United States have been designated by the United Drug Com pany, of Boston, as the balloting points. In each store clerk has been detailed to conduct the ballot and thus insure sure and fair test to vote. There will be no stuffing of the ballot boxes, nor will there be any repeating.
 The big unknown quantity in the forthcoming election is the women's vote. In order to accurately com pute this vote, two ballot boxes have been installed in each Rexall Store, one for the male vote, the other for the women. Each night the vote will be counted, that of men and wo- men totaled separately.
 Each ballot clerk, in each town or city, after compiling his local vote, will telegraph his returns to cen tral point in that state. This state capain, in turn, will compile the to- tai vote for the state and telegraph these returns to the Straw Vote Di- rector at the Boston office of the Uni ted Drug Company.
 In addition to this the state cap tain, after compiling the vote for his state, will send these returns back to each Rexall Drug Store in his state, where they will be prominently dis played on each store window.
 The Boston Office, after receiving the reports from all forty eight states, will compile the total nation al vote, for men and women, sepa- arately, and a bulletin will be issued each night, together with the total figures by states, which will be sent back to all the eight thousand drug stores and to many newspapers and news agencies throughout the eoun- try.
 In order to handle this straw vote an interchange of upwards of thirty thousand messages, telegraphic and telephonic, will be necessary each day. Beginning October 1, announce ment will be made daily of the vote, and with eight thousand drug stores to draw upon, it is safe to say that many million votes will be cast and compiled.
 An actual test of the Rexall Straw Vote was made in the last presiden- tial campaign. While balloting was ronducted only nine days in all the stores, yet several million votes were cast and five days before the lection the figures were announced.
 This test vote showed that Presi- dent Wilson had been le-elected by a small majority It showed that he would carry California, and also New Hampshire, an announcement which brought indignant denials from those opposed to him. When the total vote cast in the Rexall Straw Vote were compared with those cast in the November election, they differed from the actual figures less than one half of one per cent. With thirty days of balloting in the present test vote, not only can the readers be kept in momentary touch with the temper of the public, but they will get g very definite idea as to how the wo- men of the nation will vote on No vember 2 next.