Milford chronicle., 1924-05-16
DELAWARE RANKS HIGH
IN VOTING EFFICIENCY
Ranks Second Among States For
Active Voters With Only 80
Stay-At-HOmes Per 100.
PENNSYLVANIA The WORST
TabulatiOn Shows That Over Half
Of Available Voters In NeighbOr-
ing State Did Not Vote.
COPIES THIS ISSUE

Delaware comes in Goi praise on the
score of high voting efficiency in a
laDulatlOn by States of active voters.
stay-at-hcme and absentee voters. In
1870 the highest voting efficiency per
centaSe shown by any State in the
vote cast for President was in Ken
lucky, where there were only "a stav-
aL-hOme or absentees for each 100
VOtes registered at the polls. The sec
ond best record was made nv Della
ware with 80 stay-at-hOmes per 100.
Inc number who voted was 94,9l9 and
Ihe number of stay-at-hOmes and alb
sentees was 31,384.
Simon Michelet, for several years
secretary to the late Senator Knute
Nelson of Minnesota, and now Drac-
tlclng law, collected the material and
released it to the correspondents in
The belief that it would be of much
interest at this time and serve the
purpose of emphasizing the need for
greater participation by voters in the
government
Summarizing the 1920 vote for ,
President, which was 26,718.832 total,
comparison is made with the number
of stay-at-hOme voters, put at 25,705,-
O63, and the fact stated that for every
100 votes cast there were SO stay-at-
homes or absentees.
The stay-at-home total of more than
25,OQ0,000 is arrived at after deduct
ng 8,467,625 disqualified citizens of 2I
years or over, including about $780,
700 alien or unnaturalized foreign
)orns and over 100000 illiterate CT
zens, white and cOlored, disfranchis-
ID under the election laws of 12
southern States. The stay-at-hOme
'ote is not characteristic of any par
lcular section, but is more or less
ommon to every section, the figures
how.
The II States of the upper AIississ-
1pi Valley, known as the Middle West
lake by all odds the best showing for
ny geographic section. The five East
orth Central grOup-OhiO, Indiana,
llnols, Michigan and Wisconsin,
now IS stay-at-hOmes per 100 votes,
5 compared with "a homes
or 100 votes cast by the three Middle
tlantic States, New York, New Jer-
y and Pennsylvania. But the best
lowing is made by the West North
entral group-Minnesota, Iowa, Mis-
uri, North and South Dakota, Ne
aska and Kansas-59 stay-at-homes
r 100 as compared with 80 per 100
New England.
The worst showing of any large
lte is made by Pennsylvania. which
st 1851, ,24S votes for President in
20, while 2,479,10O voters failed to
to the polls. For every 100 votes
st there were 1873 stay-at-hOmes or
5entees. Pennsylvania did not COM
re in voting efficiency with the
lthern State of North Carolina. AL
ugh the latter has 342,756 coIored
zens of voting age and 2O4,492 dis
allied illiterates, it had only Sc
y-at-homes per 100 votes. The
tement is made that Pennsylvania
always gone Republican in presi-
tial elections since the war between
States, except in 1912, when it
ut for Roosevelt, doubtless ac-
nts for the failure of that State to
out its full vote. On the other
Id, North Carolina is as safely a
party state as Pennsylvania.
'oubt of how an election will go is
1 to be responsible for the large
centage of voters who take part in
;tiOns in West Virginia. In 1920.
stay-at-home numbered only 40 to
votes cast. Other similar illus
ions are given.
he conclusion is drawn that the
rmous stay-at-home vote of TODAY
ltficient to change the result Of the
election in a vast ma
ry of the States. Upon the ability
efficiency of national and state
mittees in mobilizing the stay-at-
les and converting them into ac-
electors hangs many an election.
'cond in Importance to waking I'D
stay-at-hOmes is the naturaliza-
of 6,2O0,000 fOreign-born citizens
oting age.
lrt of the stay-at-home total
I'D be charged to absentees, in
ing government employees, army
navy men, students, travelling men
persons temporarily away from
at voting time. Cumbersome alb
7e voting laws are blamed for
re of more absentees to arrange
'te by mail, and the state laws. it
clared, should in many instances
mplified
n