The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1956-11-13
County's 1865
Votes Just Below
Referendum Total

total of Ill Votes in Prince
! Edward connfv wasted their inf'n-
ono" m last Tuesdays presidential
balloiinC because they marked their
ballots in,n"ore~'v and election Of
fcials voided them
1t was enough votes to swing a
close election. although on this oc-
caS'on. the voided ballots probably
made no significant difference in
outcome
Prospect district had the highest
number Of voided ballots 50. al
though some we've counted in each
Of the six districts. Farmville cleo
ton officials voided 26.
Too Many KS
Throughout the state. a high per
centage Of the ballots was vojded.
election officials report Evidently.
the voters were in error for two
reasons: misunderstanding of the
rather long presidential ballot.
Whlch offered numerous places to
mark. bit could be allowed only
one. and disgust with the whole
thing and ballots marked accord
ingly.
according TO reports from cleo
ton officials. some ballots were
voided when the voter marked his
/ ballot in two Squares-one reflect
ing his choice for president. the
other his vice-presidential choice In
another party.
\ Others went into the waste can
4 because: the voter put his in the
preferred party block. then scratch
ed through the others to make sure
/ election officials understood h s
t preference, undecided voters x-ed
| at least three party squares. and
names Of dlsliked c nd id e s
scratched through in addition to the
party choice being marked
Prince Edwards total officta
count certified Friday by the Com
miSsionerS Of Election, j A. Har-
per G. f. Shorter. b G. Bass.
r W Dupuy and j. B. Elan was
County Totals
Andrews ,588: Eisenhower 932
Stevenson 437 SociahSt-Labor 2
and Virginia Social Democratic s
Those come to a total of 1865 a
new record for presidential voting
and second only to last January s
constitutional referendum count Of
3.l85. Tuesdays voting nudged out
for second place in the all-tnne
record the Democratic county pr,
mary of July 1855,
With the III voided ballots added
the total turnout at the polls here
was 076-beginning to approach
the registration total of about $500
but leaving quite a number who ap-
parently weren't interested or well
enough to make the trip to their
precincts.
NFllc-tnS
The election commissioners also
certified the vote for Congressman
Watkins M Abbltt as 2.8l5. In that
balloting there were seven Wrlte-ins
with j Segar Gravatt named three
times: Francis B Simkins history
professor at LongWood Col leg e.
twice: J. B. Wall and John Battle
each once
The official count on the three
amendments to the Virginia Con
Stitution was: change in governor S
inaugural date 1858 for and 244
against. authorizing local option on
personal property tax 100 for and
3l6 against, and prohibiting fire G
rides for sec members, 1879 for
and 4l5 against
The commissioners Of election are
designated by the county electoral
board. with members chosen for
each separate election from among
the various precinct judges. T h e
present electoral board in the coun-
ty is composed of W F. Watkins,
Jr.. secretary, and H. 1. Shorter and
Claude Chick
Farmville's official tally La I
Tuesday was Andrews 800, Essen
hover $40: Stevenson 1863: Social
!StLabor one and Social-Democratic
enc That is a total Of ! .59l, also
second TO the $40 cast in last Janu-
am S referendum. and ahead of the
July 1855 primary Of l.246.