IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR QUICKLY AND ACCURATELY OBTAINING THE RESULT OF PARLIAMENTARY AND OTHER ELECTIONS BY BALLOT to be as follows
Year: 1885

page_text: I, JAMES WITHERS of 1 Culver Terrace Sandown Isle of Wight, Gentleman do
hereby declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS
FOR QUICKLY AND ACCURATELY OBTAINING THE RESULT OF PARLIAMENTARY AND
OTHER ELECTIONS BY BALLOT to be as follows:-
"
This.Invention relates to a single self-acting method of ascertaining with unerring
exactness, the result of a Parliamentary, Municipal Parochial or other election by
ballot as soon as the poll is closed, whereby complete accuracy is secured, secresy is
fulfilled, and illiterate voters are assisted.
The means I employ in carrying out my invention are the following.
Instead of using voting papers as at present metal discs or quoits numbered
consecutively (N° 1 upwards) are used which discs may if desired be plain, or be
impressed with any approved particulars, or the same discs may be used for many
years for succeeding elections.
The voter (as at present) will advance to the front of the table of the presiding
Officer at the polling station of the voters district and on proof that he stands
numbered on the Register, to the satisfaction of the presiding officer (who may be
accompanied by the agents of either party right and left of him) he hands the disc
No 1 to the voter and directs him to the small secret chamber provided in the same
room, where the voter deposits his vote for the candidate he has decided to
vote foi.
To assist an illiterate voter (who will not be required to read or write) each of
say three candidates previously selects a color (differing from the other candidates)
say red, brown or blue The voter on entering the secret chamber faces three small
doors painted in those colours Above the door colored red (out of the reach of the
voter, but within sight of the presiding officer) is boldly placed the name of the
candidate say Adams, on a red tablet In like manner the candidate Brown has
selected brown as bis colour and his name Brown is placed conspicuously above his
door, as in the former case, and so on for the candidate Cozens, who has selected
the colour blue.

page_text: The voter having fixed upon his candidate (say Brown) advances to the brown
door and once having made his choice, by a self acting process be excludes himself
from the other doors. Facing him a slot in the counter is ready to receive his disc
or vote.
The apparatus is so arranged that the voter cannot record more than one vote at
the same election,
Having deposited his vote in the slot provided for it, the voter cannot remove it
again as it remains beneath the surface of the counter until he has passed the exit
door, when the disc 18 suddenly released to act on the recording instrument which
is made to register every vote given for that candidate.
During the stay of the voter in the secret chamber he may open the door of his
chosen candidate, as often as he pleases but only his one vote will be recorded.
He cannot open the other doors after opening the door he has once selected.
By a self acting process the exit-door is made to release the disc or vote (after
the voter 18 outside the secret chamber) which vote is then recorded by the
instrument provided. By the same action at the same moment the two doors are
unbolted and the entrance door to the secret chamber is set free for the next comer,
who deposits his vote and departs as quickly as the former.
The presiding officer, before the opening of the poll in the presence of the
appointed political agents, places suitable numbering instruments in their proper
places, under seal.
When the poll has closed the presiding officer and agents certify the number of
votes recorded for each candidate. He then locks and seals the numbering instru-
ments in the condition they stood at the close of the poll.
The presiding officer then telegraphs to the returning officer or other appointed
person (situated in the centre of the County or other appointed place) the results
of the poll in his particular polling district, thereby enabling the returning
or other officer to issue the result of the election at once, and thus avoid the
necessity of requiring a large number of gentlemen to spend the whole of the night
in examining and establishing the correctness of the voting papers as at present.
The presiding officer at the close of the poll in his particular polling district
forthwith proceeds to hand over to the returning officer the numbering instruments
placed in his charge.
The returning officer gives to the presiding officer a receipt for the instruments
returned; certifying that the numbers telegraphed agree with the state of the
indices.
The returning officer early the following morning publicly declares (at the
County Hall) or the place appointed for a Borough, or other election, the final
state of the poll and announces the name or names of the successful candidates.
01 L
r
1 100P

page_text: I JAMES WITHERS of 1 Culver Terrace Sandown, Isle of Wight Gentleman do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement-
This Invention relates to simple self acting means and apparatus by means of
which it is made possible to ascertain with unerring exactness the result of a
contested parliamentary, parochial or other election by ballot as soon as the poll is
closed, instead of having as at present required to examine and count and re-count
the voting papers by hand, involving much labour and intense and prolonged
anxiety.
By the means employed complete accuracy is secured-secresy is ensured, and
illiterate voters are assisted.
The means I employ in carrying out my invention are the following:-
Instead of using voting papers as at present, I use metal discs or quoits numbered
consecutively (No 1 upwards) which discs may if desired be plain or be impressed
with any approved particulars, or the same discs may be used for many years for
succeeding elections and thereby save considerable cost.
The voter will advance to the front of the table of the presiding officer at the
polling station of the voters district and on proof that he stands numbered on the
register to the satisfaction of the presiding officer (who may be accompanied by
the agents of either party right and left of him) he hands the disc N° 1.to the
voter and directs him to the appointed officer in charge of the secret chamber (who
will be stationed outside the entrance door) and who on seeing that the voter
possesses a disc, will open and close the entrance door leaving the voter alone in
the secret chamber.
In that small secret chamber the back of which is within sight of the presiding
officer, the voter deposits his vote for the candidate he has decided to vote for, and
leaves by the exit door.
To assist an illiterate voter (who will not be required to read or write) each of
say three candidates contesting the one seat, previously selects a color (differing
from that chosen by the other candidates) say red brown or blue.
The voter, on entering the secret chamber faces three small voting doors painted
in those colors, above the door colored red, out of the reach of the voter (but the
tablet is within sight of the presiding officer in order that it may not be removed
or exchanged) is boldly placed the name of the candidate-say for example Adams,
on a red tablet. In like manner the candidate Brown, (who has chosen brown as
his color) has his name placed conspicuously above his door, as in the former case.
And so on for the candidate Cozens who has previously selected the color blue
This arrangement will also apply to places entitled to return two members to
parliament, where there may be four or more candidates, contesting for the two
seats, in which case the presiding officer will deliver to each voter two discs—one
1

page_text: of which the voter will deposit in the first secret chamber, and the second disc in a
second secret chamber near to the first. To prevent "plumpers" if so desned, the
voter will find the door for brown in the second chamber bolted against him, if he
has already voted for brown, and will find all the other voting doors fiee to open
any one which he may select
The voter having decided upon his candidate (say Brown) advances to the brown
door and having made his choice, as soon as he commences to open that door, by a
self acting process he causes all the other doors to be bolted against him in order
that he may not (if he came provided with a counterfeit disc) be able to deposit it.
On opening the voting door he will find facing him a slot ready to receive his disc
or vote, and having deposited his disc, the voter at once leaves by the exit door,
such is the easy way in which he votes, and the rapidity secured, that only five
seconds are required to complete his voting.
The apparatus is so arranged that the voter cannot possibly record more than the
one vote he is entitled to. The disc remains in the slot as it was left by the voter,
and is kept there by a flat lever bolt, placed just beneath the bottom of the slot,
upon which bolt the edge of the disc rests The slot being thus full to the top a
second or counterfeit disc cannot possibly be entered, if the voter designed to give
more than one vote for his favorite candidate
The voter being only entitled to vote for one candidate, provision is also made
against fraud, where a voter purposes to open more than one door
In the act of even attempting to open more than one door, at the same time, he
will find that he has unconsciously locked all the doors against himself, so that he
will not be able to vote at all. On returning to the presiding officer to complain
that "none of the doors will open " he will expose himself for having attempted a
fraud. If he quietly carries off his unused disc, purposing to give two to his
favorite candidate at a future election, he will find as explained above, that having
put in the slot one disc (being full) he cannot put in a second one.
The next following voter in like manner will advance to the officer conducting
the traffic, to whom he will show his disc. That officer on opening the entrance
door will set in motion a self acting mechanism herein after described which is
made to liberate the disc from the slot, left by the former voter which is thereupon
recorded by the counting instrument placed beneath the slot By the same action
at the same moment, the doors left bolted by the previous voter are unbolted thus
leaving all the three small voting doors free to the choice of each voter The second
voter having deposited his disc in the slot he has selected passes out of the secret
chamber by the exit door as quickly as the former voter, and so on to the end of
the poll.
The presiding officer before the opening of the poll in the presence of the
appointed political agents places suitable numbering instruments in the proper
places under seal
When the poll is closed the presiding officer and agents pass into the secret
chamber and he there declares the poll closed. In passing through the entrance
door the last disc 18 liberated and falls to be counted. They continue their course
and the presiding officer breaks the seals enclosing the counting instruments and
announces the number of votes recorded in his district for each candidate. He then
locks and seals each of the counting instruments, stopping them in their action and
fixing them in the condition they stood in at the close of the poll.
The presiding officer at once telegraphs to the returning officer, or other appointed
person (situated in the centre of the County or other appointed place) the result of
the poll in his particular polling district, thereby enabling the returning, or other
officer to issue the result of the election at once, and thus avoid the necessity of
requiring a large number of gentleman to spend the whole of the night in
examining and establishing the correctness or otherwise of the voting papers, and
counting and recounting of the votes as at present.
The presiding officer on the close of the poll in his particular polling District
forthwith proceeds to hand over to the returning officer the numbering instruments

page_text: placed in his charge, for which he will take his receipt and obtain a certificate that
the numbers he telegraphed agree with the state of the indices.
>
The returning officer having compared all the counting instruments with the
numbers telegraphed from each District, early the following morning publicly
declares (at the County Hall or the place appointed for a Borough, or other election)
the final result of the poll and announces the name or names of the successful
candidate or candidates
-
I will now more particularly describe the various parts of the apparatus by
means of which I accomplish the ends in view, namely to ascertain immediately
the poll is closed the result of a contested election by ballot (no matter how large
the County may be) and the prevention of fraud in various ways in such contests
On each of the three voting doors is fixed a latch lock (A Figure 6) shown in the
accompanying Drawings see Drawing N° 2 with a latch-lift a and spring b. Each
of the three voting doors are free to open in obedience to the choice of the voter.
On turning the brass handle a' a quarter of an inch to lift the latch, the bent lever c
1s raised that much, and consequently the upper end of the bent lever c¹ is depressed
a quarter of an inch, to the end of that lever is connected a copper wire c³ by bell
cranks and conducted to the lever catch d¹ Figure 1 with spring attached
That
Bniall movement causes the lever-catch d¹ to be raised a quarter of an inch sufhcient
to set free the perpendicular levers e¹ e' of N° 2 and No 3 voting doors. That
perpendicular lever works in its guide staple f Figure 6 set in motion by the
spring g which lever assumes the position shown by the dotted lines, in which
position the lower end of the bent lever c will come in contact with the projection et
thereby preventing the latch from being raised above the sliding bolt h and causing
the voting door to be locked.
By the same action precisely, a second wire being conducted to the bell
cranks Figure 1 to the end of the lever catch d' the catch is raised a quarter
of an inch as before described with regard to lever catch thereby liberating
the perpendicular-lever e' acting by its spring and thus bolting also the voting
door N° 3 against the voter, and so on if the voter selects N° 2 voting door, he
will unconsciously bolt Nos 1 and 3 voting-doors, and if be selects No 3, voting-
door, he will cause to be bolted against himself N° 1 and 2 voting-doors
If the
voter attempt to open more than one voting door (being entitled to only one vote)
he will unconsciously bolt all the voting-doors against himself
The means I employ to liberate the discs from the different slots n n¹ n' are the
following: Upon the second voter passing through the entrance door (before he
faces the three voting-doors) the plate hook p Figure 3 of eccentric shape, which is
screwed on to the back of the entrance door shown in the plan, Figure 3 acts
upon the friction roller q and thereby pulls the two copper-wires with their
adjusting appliances which wires are conducted over pulley r to the three ends
of the three flat lever bolts o o. o. Figure 5 beneath the necks of the disc slots n
n¹ n³ Those bolts moving on centies being acted upon by the wire attachments
open the bottom of the slots and liberate the disc in whichever alot the disc was
placed in: The disc at once falls to the receiver of counters shown in plan, Figure 4
to be thereupon recorded or counted by the instrument provided and hereafter
explained. The second wire referred to 8 1s conducted over pullies to lift the
ratchet levers k which on being raised liberate the voting doors causing them to
shut by a door spring m ready for the next comer In closing the voting-door the
latch is made to force back the spring bolt h Figure 6 ready for the next person
authorized to open a voting door.
A second wire conducted in all respects like the above is together with the first
wire conducted through a pulley supplied with bell-chain to the hinge side of the
entrance door frame, there to be placed in contact with a plate hook of eccentric
shape as shown at p Figure 3 screwed on to the back of the entrance door on its
hinge-side, which on the entrance door being opened in the direction shown by the
arrow is made to pull the wire connected with each of the three perpendicular
levers e eles and by the action of the entrance door those three levers are drawn

page_text: back ready to perform that office of bolting the voting doors when the selected
voting door is operated upon by the next voter. The entrance door is thus made
to act instantly upon the disc holder, the closing of the voting doors and the
unbolting of each of the voting doors which the former voter caused to be bolted
against himself.
The voter on raising the latch-lock A Figure 6 half an inch is enabled to open
the voting door of his selected candidate. The voting door has screwed on its
back a segmental staple i of wrought iron shown in plan Figure 8 which on coming
in contact with the ratchet lever k working in its guide plate 7 the voting door 18.
held in its open position to be effectually closed by a coiled door spring m at the
proper time, so as to ensure that each of the voting doors shall be duly closed-
yet free to open to the choice of each voter.
The voter having deposited bis disc in the slot n provided for it, it remains on
its edge in the neck of the slot and is kept in that position until the voter has left
the secret chamber
I will now describe the recording or counting instrument as arranged to act in
accordance with part of my invention which relates to improvements in ordinary
and well known "counters" or recording apparatus for which Letters Patent dated
6th May 1885 N° 5611 are now being applied for by me so as to adapt them for
being worked by light forces and to render them applicable to my improved
method of quickly ascertaining the results of contested elections by ballot.
"
This apparatus consists in the application to the spindles of well known and
long tested "counters a means of obtaining the action of the instrument by the
very slight force of a small disc or other weight, to set in motion the parts of the
recording instrument, which is usually accomplished by steam, water, or other
power.
For this purpose I employ a small metal receiver or holder connected to the
"counter" or recording instrument by the set screw as represented in Figures 4, 5*
and 6* with an adjustable counter balance weight to adapt it to the size and weight
of the disc employed and so to bring the receiver into its required position to
receive the disc, or weight and carry on the reciprocating action of the spindle of
the recording instrument which will be more particularly described in the complete
specification and Drawings of the Patent before referred to.
"
The advantages resulting from my improvements are the application of a minute
force necessary to accomplish the end in view, whereby the "counter or recording
instrument is made available for my method of quickly ascertaining the results of
contested elections.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I make
no claim to any of the parts separately which are well known and in common use
but what I claim is
First. The improved means which I employ consisting of the use of metal discs
in lieu of papers used for voting purposes, the discs being easily and accurately
counted by well known counters such as Harding's "counter" substantially as
and for the purposes described.
u
Second. The arrangement and application of levers bolts and apparatus in
connection with each of the three or more voting doors, to be acted upon
immediately by the voter moving the handle of the latch on the voting door, which
before the door can be opened, instantly bolts each of the other voting doors
against the voter to prevent fraudulent voting, substantially as described and
represented in the drawings annexed
Third The improved means and apparatus I employ to prevent fraud by retaining
the disc in the slot, until after the voter has left the secret, chamber, The disc
deposited by the voter being confined in the slot by lever bolts beneath the slots
the slot being full, cannot receive a second or fraudulent disc. Whichever slot the
xoter may have used, all the slots by one action are opened, upon the entrance of

page_text: the following voter and the disc from whichever slot it was placed in, falls to
be counted the apparatus being arranged to act substantially as described and
represented in the drawings annexed.
Fourth. The improved means and apparatus I employ to prevent a voter opening
more than one voting door, to fraudulently vote for more than one candidate,
where only one member is to be elected substantially as described and represented
in the drawings annexed.
Fifth. The improved arrangement combination and construction of apparatus
arranged so as to operate substantially in the manner and for the purposes set
forth, the apparatus being arranged to act substantially in the manner hereinbefore
described and represented in the Drawings hereto annexed.
Dated this 31st day of December 1885.
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
34, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Patentee.