IMPROVEMENTS IN VOTING BY BALLOT, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry William Spratt, of 4, Lee Road, Black-
heath, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry William Spratt
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st November 1873.
"
I, HENRY WILLIAM SPRATT, of 4, Lee Road, Blackheath, in the
County of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VOTING BY BALLOT, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,”
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a mechanical or a combination of mechanical
and magnetic, or pneumatic, or electrical; or other scientific apparatus,
and which can be applied to any existing building, or enclosed in a.
portable chamber, forming a complete system of voting by ballot,
suitable for every description of voting and securing purity of election,,
with the following advantages:-
1°. Balloting without the aid of balls, tickets, passes, letters, figures,
official stamps, or ballot boxes.

page_text: voter has voted.
3°. While secrecy is obtained all parties, "pro and con," can be
satisfied the voter has voted.
4°. At the close of the poll the result of the voting can be instantly
made known.
5°. A. complete check as to the numbers voted, preventing any
tampering with the apparatus.
6°. Economy, great saving of time, trouble, and expense at elections,
and also with Government officials, and office routine afterwards.
My ballot chamber may be of any size or form, but I prefer a small
chamber (lighted from the top) sufficiently large to contain one voter
and the necessary apparatus.
I now proceed to explain my system, as follows:-The outer doors of
the chamber being thrown back are so made as to form in the lower
portions two desks for officials, the upper portions serving as notice
boards whereon the rules to be observed at elections may be affixed.
The two inner folding leaves open on hinges, and when fastened to a
stile made moveable form with the two fixed leaves a turnstile working
on pivots in one direction only (somewhat on the principle in use on toll
bridges and public buildings) each revolution of the turnstile being
under the control of the proper official by a foot pedal. Inside the
ballot chamber there is a recording table with the names of each of the
candidates on tablets, and an indicator connected with an index for each
candidate. The indicators may be made to either turn, slide, pull up,
down, out, or press in, according to the means employed.
The voter by one movement of the indicator records one vote on the
candidates' index, registers one vote on the public index, and strikes a
small bell. If the voter is entitled to more than one vote he simply
repeats the operation, and he may vote entirely for one candidate or split
his votes as he pleases. When however he has voted the number of times
to which he is entitled he can vote no more, and for this purpose the
apparatus is so arranged as to be put out of gear, or otherwise stopped
or locked, and it can only be put in gear, unstopped, or unlocked by the
action of the turnstile, or other arrangement, as the voter leaves the
voting chamber, when the apparatus is again and immediately ready

page_text: for use.
If the voter does not leave the chamber as soon as he has
voted the turnstile revolving will simply eject him. The object of the
bell is to record every vote that is registered, and the public index to:
shew the total number of votes given; the bell being heard and the
index being public the voter as well as all parties outside the ballot:
chamber have proof of the voter having voted.
The private indexes being securely locked up it is only at the close of'
the poll, when the proper official unlocks the index enclosure, that the
relative number of votes each candidate has received is instantaneously
known.
On the various votes polled for each candidate being added up they
will check the total as recorded by the public index and so prevent any
tampering with the private indexes. Should it be considered desirable
to remove the several indexes to any central polling place the indexes.
are easily detachable if necessary.
The chamber may be made of wood or metal with separate divisions
for indexes and the various moveable portions of the apparatus, such as
keys and other instruments for setting and arranging the indexes, and
gearing the apparatus for any number of votes, &c., &c.
This system of voting may be carried out in whole or part on any
required scale as to number of candidates, number of votes allowed each,
voter, and for any number of votes or polling places however large the
constituency, and either by mechanical, electrical, magnetic, pneumatic,
or other scientific apparatus, or partly by one and partly by the
other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry William Spratt in the Great Seal Patent:
Office on the 21st May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WILLIAM SPRATT, of 4, Lee Road, Blackheath, in the County of Kent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
די

page_text: thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry William Spratt, Her
special license that I, the said Henry William Spratt, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry William
Spratt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully. might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VOTING BY BALLOT, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry William
Spratt, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry William Spratt, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by 2
the following statement thereof, and the Drawings therein referred to
(that is to say) :—
My Invention consists of apparatus which can be applied to an
existing building or enclosed in a portable chamber for voting by ballot,
and which is suitable and available for every description of voting, 2
and for securing purity and secrecy of election with the following
advantages:―
1. Balloting without the aid of balls, tickets, passes, letters, figures,
official stamps, or ballot boxes.
2. Absolute secrecy, it being impossible to discover for whom the 3
voter has voted.
3. While secrecy is obtained all parties, "pro and con," can be
satisfied the voter has voted.
4. At the close of the poll the result of the voting can be instantly
made known.

page_text: BUDOIR Youth, preventing any tam-
pering with the apparatus.
.6. Economy, great saving of time, trouble, and expense at elections,
and also with Government officials and office routine afterwards.
My ballot chamber may be of any size or form, but I prefer a small
chamber (lighted from the top) sufficiently large to contain one voter
and the necessary apparatus.
I now proceed to explain my system as follows:-The outer doors of
the chamber being thrown back are so made as to form in the lower
portions two desks for officials, the upper portions serving as notice
boards whereon the rules to be observed at elections may be affixed.
The two inner folding leaves open on hinges, and form with the two
fixed leaves a turnstile working on pivots in one direction only (some-'
what on the principle used on toll bridges and in public buildings), each
revolution of the turnstile being under the control of the proper official.
Inside the ballot chamber there is a recording table with the names of
each of the candidates on tablets, and an indicator connected with an
index for each candidate. The indicators may be made to either turn,
slide, pull up, down, out, or press in, according to the means
employed.
The voter by one movement of the indicator records one vote on the
candidates' index, registers one vote on the public index, and strikes a
small bell. If the voter is entitled to more than one vote he simply repeats
the operation, and he may vote entirely for one candidate or split his
votes as he pleases. When however he has voted the number of times
to which he is entitled he can vote no more; and for this purpose the
apparatus is so arranged as to be put out of gear, or otherwise stopped or
locked, and it can only be put in gear, unstopped, or unlocked by the
action of the turnstile or other arrangement as the voter leaves the
voting chamber, when the apparatus is again and immediately ready for
use. If the voter does not leave the chamber as soon as he has voted
the turnstile revolving will simply eject him. The object of the bell is
to record every vote that is registered, and the public index to shew the
total number of votes given, the bell being heard and the index being
public the voter, as well as all parties outside the ballot chamber, have
proof of the voter having voted..

page_text: The private indexes being securely locked up it is only at the close of
the poll when the proper official unlocks the index enclosure that the
relative number of votes each candidate has received is instantaneously
known.
On the various votes polled for each candidate being added up they
will check the total, as recorded by the public index, and so prevent any
tampering with the private indexes. Should it be considered desirable
to remove the several indexes to any central polling place the indexes
are easily detachable if necessary.
The chamber may be made of wood, metal, or other substance with
separate divisions for indexes and the various moveable portions of the
apparatus, such as keys and other instruments for setting and arranging
the indexes, and gearing the apparatus for any number of votes,
&c., &c.
This system of voting may be carried out in whole or part on any
required scale as to number of candidates, number of votes allowed each
voter, and for any number of votes or polling places, however large
the constituency, and either by mechanical, electrical, magnetic,
pneumatic, or other scientific apparatus, or partly by one and partly by
the other.
Such being the nature of my Invention, the manner in which the

page_text: Fig. 11 shews in side elevation, and Fig. 12 in front view, one of the
sliding bars 6 and its locking devices when the bar is unlocked and
ready to be drawn forward for giving a vote.
Figs. 13 and 14 are corresponding views shewing the sliding bar
drawn out.
The outer doors of the chamber A. are each made in three parts,
namely, a lower part A* hinged to a post B of the chamber, a middle
part A hinged to the part A*, and an upper part A³ hinged to the
post B. On being thrown back the middle portions A¹ form two desks
for officials, the upper portions A² serving as notice boards whereon the
rules to be observed at elections may be affixed. The two inner folding
leaves C, C¹, open on hinges by which they are fastened to two
leaves D, D', fixed together and forming in plan an L shaped door
moveable on pins or pivots at E. Thus the two inner folding leaves C, C¹,
when opened out and secured by temporary rods or otherwise at right
angles to each other, and to the two fixed leaves D, D', form a turnstile,
as shewn in plan in Fig. 3, such turnstile working on pivots in one
direction only, somewhat on the principle used on toll bridges and in
public buildings. The arrows in Figure 3 shew the direction in which the
turnstile illustrated is arranged to rotate, and it is prevented from being
turned back by catches F arranged in the posts B, and kept forward by
suitable springs. When the turnstile is turned in the direction shewn,
by the arrows these catches F present inclined surfaces to its leaves, so
that the catches are pushed in to allow the leaves to pass, but if the
turnstile be turned in the contrary direction its leaves come in contact
with the flat surfaces of the catches, and are thereby arrested. It will
be obvious the turnstile may be arranged to turn in the contrary direction
to that shewn. G are tablets containing the names of the candidates,
and opposite to each tablet is the indicator or knob connected with
the index for the corresponding candidate.
a is the framing of the apparatus which is constructed with a front
plate a', and a back plate a². Each of these plates is formed with a
number of holes corresponding to the number of candidates for which
the machines is to be made available. The holes in the back plate are
made large enough to allow of the motion of the projections containing
the slots 66. In these holes are fitted sliding bars 6 provided with
indicators or knobs 6', which indicators or knobs are situated in recesses

page_text: formed in the woodwork or casing c, as shewn, so that when drawn
forward the indicators or knobs do not reach quite to the front of the
woodwork. c is a frame attached to the casing; in this frame are
fitted a number of small sliding doors c², and the frame is made just
high enough to be capable of receiving one door more than the number
with which it is provided, so that by raising the upper door as far as
it will go access is gained to the upper indicator or knob 6', or if it be
desired to actuate a lower indicator 6¹ the door opposite to the indicator
to be actuated is lifted and raises all the doors above it; but the frame is
not sufficiently large to allow the doors to be moved so as to permit of
access to more than one indicator or knob at a time.
Each sliding bar 6 is formed or provided with an incline 63 and with
a stop or projection 6³, as also with a projecting part 6 carrying a
finger 65 for actuating the tumbler levers herein-after described. . The
rear end of each sliding bar b likewise carries an inclined slot 6º which
receives one end of a lever 67 having its fulcrum at b. The other
end of this lever has a slot 6° which receives the rod or lever of an
index or recording instrument d, which may be of ordinary or other
suitable construction for recording the number of movements of its rod
or lever, so that every time one of the indicators or knobs 6' with its
sliding bar b is pulled forward by the voter and allowed to return to its
normal position (as shewn in Fig. 8), the corresponding index or record-
ing instrument will register one vote.
To the front plate a¹ are hinged or pivoted a number of locking
pieces e, one to each sliding bar, and these locking pieces are made to
operate in conjunction with tumbler levers f working on pins carried by
brackets attached to the front plate. The upper arm of each tumbler
lever fis kept forward by springs f², which springs press against the
lower arms of the said levers, as shewn.
9.
g is a vertical sliding frame provided with antifriction wheels g¹,
against which the inclines 62 of the sliding bars press when the sliding
bars are drawn forward, thereby raising the frame 9 during the forward
or outward movement of the sliding bars b. When the bar 6 that has been
drawn out is released by the voter letting go the indicator or knob, the
weight of the sliding frame g acting through the corresponding anti-
friction wheel upon the steep incline 62 of the bar 6 causes the bar to
slide back to its normal position.

page_text: h is a lever working on a stud carried by the frame a. One end of
this lever is slotted to receive a projecting pin of the vertical sliding
bar i. This bar is provided with small catches which are attached to
the bar by pins or screws, as shewn, so that the catches may move
freely on their pins. The other end of the lever is recessed to.
receive a pin g³ which projects. from the side of the vertical sliding..
frame g
In the position shewn in Fig. 8 the recessed end of the lever h is held
down by the pin g² of the sliding frame g, but when any one of the
indicators or knobs 6 is pulled to record a vote, so as by its sliding bar
to raise the frame g, the recessed end of the lever is released and the
vertical sliding bar i falls by its own weight, and the action of the
spring * thus bringing one of its catches
opposite to the stop or pro-
except that which is being
indicators or knobs except
jection 6s of every one of the sliding bars
actuated, thus for the time locking all the
that which is drawn out. k is a slotted arm attached to the vertical
sliding frame g. The slot of this arm receives a stud j, carried by a
slotted lever, which works on a spindle j³ and carries a pawl, which
takes into a ratchet j³ fixed on the spindle 13. On the same spindle is
fixed a toothed wheel je, geared into a pinion j on a spindle j, the end
of which carries a crank or cam 1, which on being actuated as herein-
after described moves a bar / by means of its pin ju. This bar 7 is for
the purpose of locking the whole of the sliding bars 6
has given the number of votes to which he is entitled. The bar / is
kept back by springs until the crank pin 10 comes in contact with it and
moves it forward, whereupon the projecting parts of the bar will"
come in contact with the lower arms of the tumbler levers fand by
pressing them forward will move back their upper arms so as to let the
locking pieces e fall down on to the sliding bars 6 in front of their pro-
jecting parts 6; thus locking the whole of the sliding bars."
when the voter
The mechanism is set for the number of votes to which each voter is
entitled by shifting the stud j in the slotted arm k so as to give the
pawlj more or less motion as required. The adjustable stud j instead
of being fixed in the arm k as shewn may be fitted into a sweep or
curve and allowed to work freely along it. In this case the curve is to
be attached to a sliding bar capable of being drawn in or out in suitable
slides, so as to determine the position of the stud j with regard to the
slotted arm k and the slotted lever 12, the sweep or curve and the sliding

page_text: bar being made adjustable by a handle lever working over a brass
quadrant with numbers engraved upon it so that it can be readily set to
any required number.
The vertical sliding frame 9 carries another slotted arm m, which
through a pin m³, an arm m², a pawl m³, and ratchet m*, actuates a
wheel m³, the periphery of which is numbered so as to indicate to the
voter the number of votes he has given. The numbered wheel m³ is
moved back to zero when the voter leaves by a spring, but is prevented
from moving back prematurely by a pawl m³. The parts being in the
position shewn in Figs. 11 and 12, the voter entering raises the door c²,
opposite which the name is written of the candidate he wishes to vote
for. He then pulls the indicator or knob, which is thereby exposed to
his view, thus drawing forward the sliding bar b, which actuates its
indicating or counting machine so as to record one vote. The sliding
frame g by its upward and return movements also actuates the public
index or recording machine o so as to publicly register that the vote has
been given, without however indicating for whom it has been given.
n is a tongue or short arm which allows the projection g* of the frame g
to move up freely, but as the frame afterwards falls its projection 9*
draws down the tongue n and the arm it is attached to, so ringing the
bell n¹. If the voter be entitled to more than one vote he may give it,
the apparatus being set accordingly, but if not all the indicators or knobs
will be locked by the action of the mechanism as herein-before described.
As the voter leaves the voting chamber a suitable arm x, one of which
projects from each of the four leaves of the turnstile, will pass under
the wheel p, thereby moving up the bar q, the projections q¹ of which
will raise the locking pieces e into the position shewn in Figs. 11 and 12,
thus unlocking the sliding bar b and setting the apparatus ready for the
next voter.
From the foregoing description it will be understood that by my
Invention for parliamentary or single voting the voter by one movement
of the indicator or knob effects six objects, that is to say, he,-
First. Locks all the other indicators or knobs.
Secondly. Records one vote on the index of the candidate he has

page_text: Fourthly. Registers one vote on the public index, which will check
the total number of votes given to the several candidates, thus guarding
against any tampering with the candidates' indexes
Fifthly. Strikes or rings a bell notifying that a vote has been given,
and that the act of voting has been completed.
Sixthly. Actuates the entire locking apparatus, which may be fixed
to lock for a single or any given number of votes.
For cumulative voting I arrange the mechanism herein-before
described to enable the voter simply to repeat the voting operation, and
he may thus vote entirely for one candidate or split his vote if he
pleases. When however he has voted the number of times to which he
is entitled he can vote no more, being prevented from so doing, whether
in parliamentary or cumulative voting, by the automatic locking of the
apparatus, which can only be unlocked by the action of the turnstile or
the doors thereof as the voter leaves (or when a fresh voter enters the
voting chamber), as herein-before described. If the voter does not leave
the voting chamber as soon as he has fully voted, the turnstile, being
revolved by the official in attendance or by the entrance of the suc-
ceeding voter as soon as the bell has notified the completion of the
voting operation by the voter in the chamber, will gently eject the last-
named voter.
It will be obvious that to suit different situations the indicators or
knobs of the apparatus may either be made to turn, for instance, by
being placed on spindles at right angles to the sliding bars b, such
spindles being provided with pinions geared into racks on the ends of
the said sliding bars, or the indicators or knobs may be made to pull up
or to pull down by being attached to vertical sliding bars carrying
inclined slots to work the sliding bars b. through suitable pins, or by
turning the apparatus back to front and fixing the indicators or knobs
on what constitute the rear ends of the bars 6 in the Drawing it will be
obvious that the apparatus may be actuated by pressing in the indicators
or knobs.
The apparatus above described is what is technically called mechanical,
but it will be obvious that other well-known apparatus, as pneumatic,
electrical, or magnetic apparatus may be applied for performing or in
substitution of some of the actions above described.

page_text: Also the voting may be telegraphed by self-acting and automatic
apparatus from any one station or from several stations to a central
station at which the final result is to be declared.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not claim as of my Invention or the exclusive use of the several
parts of the apparatus herein-before described except when the same are
used in and for the purposes of my said Invention, and I hereby declare
that what I claim as my Invention is,―
First. The adapting and arranging apparatus in or to a suitable
building or chamber whereby the several operations of voting,
recording the votes, and exhibiting the result, may be effected as
above described.
Secondly. The arrangement and construction of a chamber with
turnstile, locking, and unlocking apparatus, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry William Spratt, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.