The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-09-11
PRIMARY BEGINS
TOMORROW At u
Each Voter Must Declare
Party Preference Be-
fore Voting
SEPARATE BALLOTS
FOR EACH PARTY
Five Tickets i'm Republican List and
Four i'm Democratic List, There Being
No Democratic County Ticket-PolIs
Close at p. m.

THE names of all candidates of a
party for United States senator, CON
gressmen. state and county officers and
town or city representatives shall be
printed upon separate ballots headed by
the name of the party of which they are
candidates. \ person voting at such
primary shall indicate to the ballot clerk
his party choice and such ballot clerk
shall give him the ballots of such party
and no other
The above is from Act No. z, Acts of
1921, relating to primary elections in
Vermont and applies to the primary
election tomorrow The law is different
from what it used to be. and voters viii
do well to study it before voting.
No voting viii take place until noon,
as the polls are open from u m. to s
p. m. The Australian system will be
used. and in this connection it may not
/ be amiss TO call attention to the fact
that the law requires that when a
voter calls for assistance in marking his
ballot at least two clerks shall be in the
/ booth with him. The practice of having
only one clerk assist in such service.
/ which has been in vogue here, is not law
/ full
Heretofore when a voter has passed
! through the gate he has rot been re-
quired to state his party preference, but
/ has been given the five ballots, one for
United States senator, one for congress
| man, one for state officers, one for county
| officers and one for town representative,
| each ballot bearing the names of the
candidates of all parties, and he could
] vote for whomeYer he chose.
Under the new law when a person
I rauc q rruh h1 70 h.. =,
i his party preference, whereupon he will
/ be given the ballots of that party only,
and il viii be impossible for him to vote
! for any other person except by writing
in the name on the ballot.
/ Suppose, for instance, that some
4 Democrat wished to help nominate
| Frank T.. Barber or Merrill A. Stark for
/ town representative on the Republican
/ ticket, on which they are candidates.
! For the purposes of the primary cleo
| tion mot the November election) he
would have TO declare himself a Repub-
| lican and receive the Republican bal
| lots. Then he could vote the represent
/ Republican tickets, but he would have
4 to turn in all the ballots, it being not
| permissible to carry away any ballots,
blank or otherwise. Likewise any Re-
publican who wished TO vote for Mrs
/ Carrie L. Hamilton, the Democratic
have to declare himself a Democrat and
receive the Democratic ballots. Then
! he could vote for any or all of the Dem
ocratic tickets. In the case of the Dem
ocrats. however. there are no contests
| so that the persons named on the Demo
cratic ballots are certain to be the nomi.
nees of that party to be voted for at the
| November election.
The string of Democratic ballots viii
not include any ballot for county off
GERS. because no county ticket was filed
County Clerk w. r.. Daley. whose duty
| it is to issue the ballots for county Off
GERS, issued no ballot for Democratic
county officers. for the reason that nc
ticket was filed by the Democrats. The
Barre Times in an editorial thought
blank ballots should have been issued
/ County Clerk William II. Sprague oil
Chelsea. who also is a lawyer. in a let
ter to the Times holds that Mr.. Daley
would have no right TO Issue blank bal
i lots and that he is going strictly accord
ing to law The Democrats. in fact
might have had some other plan in mind
which would be frustrated by the issu
ing of blank ballots