Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1920-10-29
SOME QUESTIONS
PLAINLY ANSWERED


In the following questions and an
swers many of the difficulties which
new and timorous voters are inclined
to worry about all too much will be
solved. 1t is impossible to publish all
the problems that might be proposed
They all run in the same trend how
ever, and the few here will aid in
self-solution of most others. The same
old advice given the little child by her
mother of asking the man in the uni
form" for information will apply in the
present case. The officers within the
guard rail will be willing to assist in
every way those who may still be in
doubt about the procedure of regis
tering their choice for national, state
or town office.
q | understand about voting for
President, Vice President and the State
officers But what other votes shall
be asked to cast?
A. In Vermont towns you will be
called upon to vote for a Town Repre-.
sentative and 5 Justices of the Peace.
Q, Will it be possible for me to
vote for Christensen (Farm-Labor
Candidate in Vermont?
A. 1t will be impossible to cast
vote worthwhile for the Farm-Labor
candidates in this state. If every
voter who desired to vote for Christen-
sen and Hays were to decide upon the
required number of electors and to
write their names in on the ballot. it
might be possible to make some kind
OF a showing. But where each voter
Tor Christensen, or Debs, the Socialist
candidate, or for the other Cox, the
Socialist Labor candidate, probably
would select an entirely different group
OF electors, it would simply give a
scattering Of detached votes which
could not be counted in the aggregate
for these candidates.
o, Would it be illegal for me to tell
anyone how intend to vote, or after
doing so, how | voted?
A. There is nothing illegal about
telling how YOU intend to vote or how
you voted, provided the conversation
does not take place inside the guard
rail at the voting place 1t would be
againt the law, however for both per
sons concerned were you to permit
another person to see how you marked
your ballot.
q. If vote for Hartness and Focte
for Governor and Lieutenant Cover
nor, must | vote for Harding and
Coolidge on the national ticket;
A. No. The ticket NAV be SPLIT
as much as YOU please In Vermont,
however, where Republican strength IS
apparently impregnable, a split ticket
is of little count.
q. Can my children accompany me
to the voting place. Must | leave them
outside or can they remain with me
while | vote?
A. If the election officers at the vot-
ing place care to interpret the law
strictly according to the letter, you
cannot have your children with you
while YOU mark your ballot. The |
election officers have a discretionary
power regarding the admittance of |
persons necessary to keep order In .
many instances order would be better .
observed were the children to keep
close to their mothers. However it
would be better to leave the children
at home.
Q. Is it against the law for me to
look over sample ballot with friend
in ordar to learn how to mark it?
A. Certainly not. The sample bal
lots are posted for the information of
tine voters
o. How are the President and Vice
President elected How is the result
determined
A. The President of the United
States is strictly speaking not elected
by the people but by an electoral col
lege, which the people select Just as
they select their Congressman. In
each state party conventions name .
their candidates for presidential cleo
tors. There are as many electors in
each state as there are Congresmen
and United States Senators combined
in that state. Vermont has electors.
This method of determining the num-
Der of electors gives each state fair
representation.
VII lHt DdIOl WHICH you Will receive
November will appear the names of
three groups of presidential electors,
Democratic, Republican and Prohibit
ton In other states there are three
other groups, Socialist Socialist
and Farm-Labor
The voter does not vote directly for
President or Vice President. He votes
for one or other of the groups of cleo
tors. Each group is pledged to cast its
vote in the electoral college for the
men whose names appear at the top
Of their group.
To vote for the Republican candi-
dates for President and Vice President
you place a single cross in the square
after their names. That one cross is a
vote for the entire group of Republi-
can electors.
If the Republican electors get more
votes in this state than the electors
who are pledged to Cox and Roose-
welt, they become members of the So
called Electoral College They cast
Vermont's four votes for Harding and
Coolidge. The presidential candidate
and his running mate who get the ma
ority of votes in the Electoral College
are thus elected