Improvements in or relating to Voting and Recording Apparatus.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 1st May, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Feb., 1896-Accepted, 1st May, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Voting and Recording Apparatus.
I, DAVID SALOMON of 56 St. Michael's Road, Northampton, in the County of
Northampton, Leather Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
:-
This invention relates to apparatus to be employed in voting by ballot and the
recording and numbering the votes and although the details of construction may be
varied without departing from the spirit of the invention the following description
will serve to indicate its nature.
I will describe the invention as applied to an ordinary voting booth, one of the
objects I have in view being to mark the paper mechanically, and at the same time
numerically record the vote so that the counting is effected as the voting proceeds.
The booth may be provided with mechanism for recording the votes for each
candidate, thus suppose there are three candidates, there will be three sets of
mechanism in each booth. The marking may be effected by pressing down a
stamp such as is commonly used in offices, the paper being placed with the part to
be marked underneath the stamp which may be provided with a cross or other
desired symbol. Each of the stamps is normally raised so that the voter when he
enters the booth may use that one representing the candidate for whom he intends
to vote. As he enters the booth by any convenient means, say a movable floor, he
sets a trigger or equivalent which as soon as he has voted locks the instrument he
has used and prevents that being used again until after he has left the booth, while
the moving the particular stamp used will have locked the other two so that he
cannot operate either of them. By this means one vote only can be recorded at
each entry into the booth.
A convenient way of carrying out this invention is to pivot the stamp upon or in
a suitable framework and extend the arm which carries a cross bar which when the
stamp is raised before use is in the path of the before-mentioned trigger, but when
the stamp has been operated passes out of the path of the trigger which auto-
matically springs underneath the before-mentioned bar and thus prevents the
further movement of the stamp which remains locked in its lower position. It will
readily be appreciated that other means besides the bar and trigger may be
employed to effect the same purpose. The trigger is preferably carried upon a
sliding bolt operated by levers or equivalent connected with the floor of the booth
which may be hinged to allow it slight movement; when the person enters the
hooth he projects the bolt towards the bar of the stamp, but the trigger which is
carried on the bolt and pressed forward by a spring is unable to move forwards
and consequently the spring is compressed and when the stamp is used and the bar
moved out of the path of the trigger the spring asserts itself and forces forward
the trigger into the path of the bar as already explained. The stamp or the bar
may be spring-controlled so as to assume normally its operative or raised position.
The counting of the votes may be easily effected by connecting the stamping
apparatus with one of the well-known counting apparatus now commonly in use.
For example the previously described bar upon the stamp may be caused to
operate a pawl carrying arm which will move one tooth of a ratchet wheel at each
operation of the stamp. Any other suitable arrangement of the counting mechanism
may however be employed.

page_text: As a means of connecting the various stamps I may employ locking bars one for
each stamp and so arranged that when the stamp is operated it acts upon an
inclined portion of the locking bar moving it against the action of a spring so that
suitable portions of it come under or engage with each of the other stamps
preventing them from being operated, while the stamp operated being as already
explained retained in its lowermost or second position prevents the locking bar from
returning and releasing the other stamps until the stamp which has been used has
been released by the voter leaving the booth. For instance suppose one of the end
stamps has been used the previously mentioned bar engages with the sloping end of
one of the locking bars and forces it forward locking the other two stamps. The
same would apply to the other end stamp which may operate upon another of the
locking bars. The centre stamp as it would require to lock a stamp at each side
of it would operate upon a divided locking bar or two separate locking bars,
moving one out to each side, each to lock one stamp.
The whole of the before described mechanism, excepting the upper portion of
the stamp may be enclosed in a suitable casing and the counting mechanism may
be enclosed in a separate locked box provided with a glass examination-plate and
adapted to be removed entire from the booth.
In describing this mechanism I have purposely mentioned a well known form of
stamp so that ordinary voters would without difficulty understand how to operate
it, but there are many other forms which the stamp may take necessitating more
or less alteration of the mechanism. Furthermore, I have described mechanism
applicable to the present form of voting or ballot papers which after having been
marked can be carried to the registration offices or placed in the ballot boxes
exactly as at present the only difference being that instead of making the cross by
a pencil the voter has made the cross by operating the stamp.
Where a new system can be introduced and it is not necessary to use the present
system of ballot papers I prefer to employ instead of a paper to receive a mark a
token of any suitable shape say for example round and made of any suitable
material say metal, which upon being placed in a slot in the mechanism operates
the various parts as well as the counting device; this would be simpler and in
some ways preferable to the present system. In this case instead of lucking the
stamps and preventing them from moving, the other slots would be closed and as
soon as the token had been inserted the slot used would also be close much as
already described with reference to the stamping mechanism.
Instead of making the floor of the booth movable this may be effectel by
providing the booth with a door or the desk or apparatus carrying the stamp may
itself be caused to effect the locking.
Where more than one vote is allowed the apparatus may be so arranged that
one vote being given will lock one apparatus and the other vote when given will
lock the rest of the apparatus, but the whole mechanism may be varied to suit
special requirements of this kind.
Dated this 1st day of Nov 1805
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
I, DAVID SALOMON of 56 St. Michael's Rond, Northampton, in the County of
Northampton, Leather Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention, and in what nummer the he is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to apparatus to be employed in voting by ballot and the

page_text: recording and numbering of the votes and although the details of construction may
be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention the following
description will serve to indicate its nature.
I will describe the invention as applied to an ordinary voting booth, one of the
objects I have in view being to mark the paper mechanically, and at the same time
numerically record the vote so that the counting is effected as the voting proceeds.
The booth may be provided with mechanism for recording the votes for each
candidate, thus suppose there are three candidates, there will be three sets of
mechanism in each booth. The marking may be effectei by pressing down a stamp
such as is commonly used in offices, the paper being placed with the part to be
markel underneath the stamp which may be provided with a cross or other desired
symbol. Each of the stamps is normally raised so that the voter when he enters
the booth may use that one representing the candidate for whom he intends to
vote. As he euters the booth, by any convenient means, say a movable floor, he
sets a trigger or equivalent which as soon as he has voted locks the instrument he
has used and prevents that being used again until after he has left the booth, while
the moving of the particular stamp used will have locked the other two so that he
cannot operate either of them. By this means one vote only can be recorded at
each entry into the booth.
A convenient way of carrying out this invention is to pivot the stamp up in or in
a suitable framework and extend the arm which carries a cross bar, which, when
the stamp is raised before use, is in the path of the before-mentioned trigger, but
when the stamp has been operated passes out of the path of the trigger which
automatically springs underneath the before-mentioned bar and thus prevents the
further movement of the stamp which remains locked in its lower position. It will
readily be appreciated that other means besides the bar and trigger may be
employed to effect the same purpose. The trigger is preferably carried upon a
sliding bolt operated by levers or equivalent connected with the floor of the booth
which may be hinged to allow its slight movement; when the person enters the
booth he projects the bolt towards the bar of the stamp, but the trigger which is
carried on the bolt and pressed forward by a spring is unable to move forwards
and consequently the spring is compressed and when the stamp is used and the bar
moved out of the path of the trigger the spring asserts itself and forces forward
the trigger into the path of the bar as already explained. The stamp or the bar
be spring-controlled so as to assume normally its operative or raised position.
The counting of the votes may be easily effected by connecting the stamping
apparatus with one of the well-known counting apparatus now commonly in use.
For example the previously described bar upon the stamp may be caused to
operate a pawl-carrying arm which will move one tooth of a ratchet wheel at each
operation of the stamp. Any other suitable arrangement of the counting
mechanism may however be employed.
may
As a means of connecting the various stamps I may employ locking bars one for
each stamp and so arranged that when the stamp is operated it acts upon an
inclined portion of the locking bar moving it against the action of a spring so that
suitable portions of it come under or engage with each of the other stamps
preventing them from being operated, while the stamp operated being as already
explained retained in its lowermost or second position prevents the locking bar from
returning and releasing the other stamps until the stamp which has been used has
been released by the voter leaving the booth. For instance suppose one of the
end stamps has been used the previously mentioned bar engages with the sloping
end of one of the locking bars and forces it forward locking the other two stamps.
The same would apply to the other end stamp which may operate upon another
of the locking bars. The centre stamp, as it would require to lock a stamp at each
side of it, would operate upon a divided locking bar or two separate locking bars,
moving one out to each side, each to lock one stamp.
The whole of the before-described mechanism, excepting the upper portion of
the stamp may be enclosed in a suitable casing and the counting mechanism may

page_text: be enclosed in a separate locked box provided with a glass examination-plate and
adapted to be removed entire from the booth.
In describing this mechanism I have purposely mentioned a well-known form of
stamp so that ordinary voters would without difficulty understand how to operate
it, but there are many other forms which the stamp may take, necessitating more
or less alteration of the mechanism. Furthermore, I have described mechanism
applicable to the present form of voting or ballot papers which after having been
marked can be carried to the registration offices or placed in the ballot boxes
exactly as at present, the only difference being that instead of making the cross
by a pencil the voter has made the cross by operating the stamp.
Instead of making the floor of the booth movable this the locking or adjusting may
be effected by providing the booth with a door, or the desk or apparatus carrying
the stamp may itself be caused to effect the locking.
Where more than one vote is allowed the apparatus may be so arranged that one
vote being given will lock one apparatus and the other vote when given will lock
the rest of the apparatus, but the whole mechanism may be varied to suit special
requirements of this kind.
The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings in which
Figure 1 is a plan, and Fig. 2 a vertical section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1, of a
voting booth provided with voting and recording apparatus constructed according
to this invention.
Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of another portion of Fig. 2,
Figs. 5 and 5, 6 and 6A and 7 and 8 are views of the locking devices, Figs. 5,
6, 7 and 8 being front elevations and Figs. 5 and 6ª end elevations of Figs. 5
and 6 respectively and
Fig. 9 is a view drawn to a smaller scale than the other figures showing the
manner of employing the movable floor.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
In constructing the apparatus as shown in the accompanying drawings I provide
a booth A to whose interior access can be had only by way of the turn-stile B,
which may be of any ordinary construction but which preferably exten is from the
floor A' to the upper part of the booth so as to completely enclose the voter when
within the booth. The turn-stile may have any desired number of wings, that
shown in the drawings has four, and these are arranged to, as it were, register with
the side walls A2 of the booth when a voter is within the latter, so as to secure for
him the necessary privacy.
On the pivot B of the turn-stile B I secure, besides the usual ratchet wheel 13
with which engages the spring-controlled pawl B³, a bevel gear wheel B' engaging
with a smaller bevel wheel C³ secured on one end of a horizontal shaft Con whose
opposite end is secured a cam (%. This shaft is memuted in suitable bearings C
below the floor A' and in the example illustrated is adapted to rotate once to
every quarter of a revolution of the turn-stile B, that is, once for every person
eutering or leaving the booth; the ratio of movement of the turn-stile B and
shaft may however be other than that described and if desired the cam C² may
have either one cam surface as shown in the drawings or more than one of such
surfaces.
The cam C2 operates upon a rod D which projects downwards from a bar D
upon which act two springs D2 whose tendency is to lower the bar D¹. The
cam C2 which rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 moves the
bar D' and its attachments upwards whenever the cam projection operates on the
rod D, and as soon as the cam projection has passed the rod D the springs D
lower the bar to its normal position. Connected to the bar D' are the rods D of
which there may be as many as there are different stamping or voting machines in
the booth, in the example illustrated where there are three of such machines, there
are three rods D³. The rod D which, if desired may be increly an exteusion of

page_text: the central rod D³, is guided in a fixed bracket E. At their upper ends each of
the rods D³ is pivotted to one arm of a bell-rank or angle-lever F whose other
arm is connected to the trigger and releasing mechanism as hereinafter described.
The voting apparatus proper is mounted in or upon a counter A³ fixed within
the booth A and each of such apparatus consists of a stamp G pivotted as at G¹
to the counter A³ and having an arm G2 extending downwards through a slot in
the top of the counter. On the free end of the arm G2 is rigidly secured a bar G³
upon whose back end bears a spring G which tends always to raise the stamp G
into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 4. When the stamp G is in this
raised or normal position the back end of the bar (³ is pressed by the spring G
on to a shelf or bearer A* fixed within the counter A³. On the shelf A slides a
trigger H mounted loosely on a headed bolt II' which is capable of sliding in the
direction of its length through a fixed guide A³; the back end of the bolt H¹ is
pivotted to the angle-lever F. H2 is a spring encircling the bolt H' between the
trigger H and a shoulder H³ on said bolt.
The front end of the bar G³ preferably through a projection G³, is adapted,
when the stamp G is depressed, to bear on a lever I which operates a bar or
slide J. This slide J carries a pawl J¹ which engages a ratchet or other first-
motion wheel J2 of a counting apparatus J³ which may be of any of the con-
structions now commonly in use. This counting apparatus J³ and lever I are
mounted in a drawer A which may be secured by a lock and key in the.counter A³,
the drawer itself being provided with a lid A' which may be locked to the drawer,
the key for this being retained by the returning officer who is responsible for the
voting at this particular booth.
The cover A is provided with two openings A8 A° the former for accommo-
dating the lever I and the latter, which is glazed, for allowing the counting
apparatus J to be inspected without raising the lid A.
On the front of the shelf A a bar K is mounted so as to be movable thereon in
the direction of its length, a convenient way of doing this is by means of screws K¹
screwed into the shelf A and passing through slots K2 in the bar K; other means
may however be employed for guiding the bar K in its longitudinal movement.
K is a spring which tends always to move the bar K in the direction indicated by
the arrow kin Figs. 5, 6 and 7. On the under edge of the bar K ratchet
teeth K are formed, and with these teeth engage spring-controlled or equivalent
pawls L each pivotted to one arm of an angle-lever L₁ which is pivotted to a
bracket L² fixed to the counter A³. The second arm of the lever L' engages
with the back part of the bar G³ so that as this part is raised the bar K is moved
along by the pawl L in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrows k and
when the back end of the bar G³ is moved downwards the pawl L slips over the
teeth K. On the bar K there are mounted three bolts K³ adapted to engage
with perforated lugs or striking plates G" rigidly secured to the bars G³.
L³ are the springs which tend always to hold the pawls L in engagement with
the teeth K, and L'are projections on the pawls L against which a bar M is caused
The bar M is
to bear when the pawls L are to be disengaged from the teeth K.
carried by two or more lever arms M¹ secured on a shaft M2 which is revolvably
mounted in bearings M³ fixed to the shelf A', and on which shaft is secured a
lever arm M connected by a link M³ to the before described lever F as shown
clearly in Figs. 4, 5 and 64.
On the front ends of the bars G³ I preferably provide pins or projections G
adapted to engage with the inclined ends of two bars N which are mounted so as
to be movable longitudinally on brackets N' secured to the counter A³. Beyond
the outer ends of the bars N I provide brackets or other abutment devices No
secured rigidly to the counter and in such position in relation to the bars N that
there is only room for one of the pins G7 to pass between the two bars N or
between the bars N and abutments N at one time, which arrangement therefore
precludes the possibility of two or more of the stamps G being depressed at the
same time.

page_text: The stamps Gare provided with any suitable devices for perforating or otherwise
marking the voting or ballot papers and these may be in the form of crosses or
other simple figures or designs or in the form of the candidates' names, these being
adapted for use, the former in connection with a voting paper bearing the
candidates' names and the latter in connection with a plain voting paper.
The apparatus as previously described admits of a voter who has two votes at
his disposal, voting for two out of three candidates that is to say, giving one
vote to one candidate, another vote to the second candidate and none to the
third candidate. When however the voter has caly one vote it is necessary to
adjust the apparatus so that it will be locked after that vote has been given.
For that purpose I provide a hole A10 in the front of the shelf A into which may
be screwed or otherwise fitted a stop-pin (not shown in the drawings) which will
prevent the bar K from being drawn by the spring K³ any farther back than the
position in which it is shown in Fig. 6 so that when the bar K is afterwards
moved by the operation of one of the stamps G, that movement will cause
the locking bolts K to engage with the striking plates G of the other
two stamps.
When the apparatus is first thrown open for voting the stamps G are all raised
and the triggers H in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4, assuming now by
way of example that each voter has two votes at his disposal and that for this
purpose the locking apparatus is arranged as shown in Figs. 5 and 5^, the completc
voting operation may be described as follows; -
As the voter enters the booth he necessarily rotates the turnstile B and thereby
causes the shaft C and cam C2 to rotate and through this cam and the rods D³ the
triggers are moved backwards away from the bars G³. As soon as the cam
projection passes the 1od D the springs D2 draw the rods D³ downwards and move
the bolts Hand triggers H towards the bars G³, but as the back ends of the
bars G³ are then in their normal position the triggers abut against these bars and
the springs H2 become compressed between the triggers H and the shoulders H³ of
the bolts H¹. The voter then places his voting paper beneath the particular
stamp corresponding to the candidate for whom he desires to vote and depresses
the stamp so as to make the mark opposite that candidate's name.
By doing this
the back end of the bar G is raised and the trigger II is immediately forced
beneath it, with the result that the stamp is locked in its depressed position and
cannot therefore be again used for voting purposes until the trigger H has been
released from it by the subsequent rotation of the turnstile B. Assuming that it
was the right hand one of
(th, the lorkingg
mrelmuism would then present the appearanes represented in Fig. 66A, If the
voter next depresses the middle one of the stamps (the king mechanism will
assume the position indicatul in Fig. 7, so that the two stamps which have been
already op rate I cannot again be operated as they are locked down by the triggers H
on the thin stamp (the left-hai one in the drawings) is lockel in it, raised
position by the bolt K, appertaining to that stamp, engaging with the striking
plate ( thereof, as shown in Fig. 7. The stamps G remain in this locked condition
until, by the rotation of the cam C the triggers H are withdrawn from beneath the
bars G and (through the link M, lever arms M M¹, and bar M) the pawls Lare
disengaged from the teeth K when the stamps G and bar K are immediately
returned to their normal positions by the respective springs G and K³; these
releasing operations may either be effected when the voter leaves the booth or the
next voter enters it according to the arrangement or speed of rotation of the
cam C².
When a movable floor 0 is employed, this, as shown in Fig. 9 is pivotted st
one edge to the fixed framing of the booth A and is normally pressed upwards by
one or more springs ()); this floor O is also connect:d to the rods D³ as shown.
When the voter enters the booth he walks on to the flour C and in doing o
depresses it against the action of the springs 0 and thereby through the mal Di
and lovers F sets the trigger in a manner similar to that already decribed

page_text: in connection with the turnstile B.
When the voter leaves the booth the floor O
is raised by the springs O¹ and the triggers H are released as also previously
described.
I preferably arrange the bars G³, triggers H or the bolts H¹, so that the
triggers H will be withdrawn from beneath the bars G³ in succession and not any
two or more of them simultaneously, thus ensuring that during the return of the
bars G³ to their normal position they will pass the locking bars N which would
stop them if any two of them reached said bars simultaneously, or this may be
provided for in other ways, for example the inclined surfaces of the bars N may be
formed on independent pieces knuckle-jointed to the bars.
If the voters have a number of votes equal to the number of candidates, and each
voter has the option of voting for all of the candidates the bar K may be
dispensed with or the bars G³ disconnecte 1 from it.
The apparatus arranged as before described does not provide for the giving of more
than one vote to each candidate, where this may be necessary, I dispense with the
triggers H and where the cumulative vote is allowed, as in School Board Elections,
the triggers H are dispensed with and the sliding bar K is provided with as many
teeth K as there are votes allowed.
The before-described apparatus may be modified without departing from the
spirit of the invention for example instead of employing three rods D3 and three
levers FI may connect all the bolts H together and operate them by one rod D³
and one lever F.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is ;-
1. In voting apparatus mechanically indicating on the voting or ballot paper
the person voted for.
2. In voting apparatus the employment in combination with a stamp or device
for mechanically marking the voting or ballot papers of mechanism for automatically
locking the device after it has been operated to prevent it from being operated a
second time by the same voter.
3. In voting apparatus the employment in combination with two or more stamps
or devices for mechanically marking the voting or ballot papers of mechanism for
locking one or more of the devices by or through the operation of another of the
devices.
4. Releasing a stamp or device for mechanically marking voting or ballot papers
by mechanism connected with or operated by the door turnstile or movable floor of
the booth or apartment containing the stamp.
5. The combination with a voting booth a stamp or device within it for
mechanically marking the voting or ballot papers of connections between the
door or turnstile of the booth and the stamp for automatically controlling the
latter.
6. The combination with a voting booth and a stamp or device within it for
mechanically marking the voting or ballot papers of a movable floor in operative
connection with the stamp.
7. In a voting booth controlling the voting mechanism by or from the door
turnstile movable floor or other part which the voter is compelled to operate before
he can vote.
8. In a voting booth the employment of a movable flor for the purpose
specified.
9. The combination with a voting bcoth a stamp or device within it for
mechanically marking the voting or ballot papers and a trigger or device for
locking the stamp after it has been operated of mechanism in operative connection
with both the trigger and the door turnstile movable Hoor or other part which the
voter is compelled to operate before he can vote.
10. In voting apparatus the employment in combination with two or more

page_text: of
stamps or devices for nechanically marking the voting or ballot papers
mechanism for preventing more than one of the stamps being operated at a single
operation.
11. In a voting booth or equivalent the combination with a spring-controlled
stamp such as G of a trigger such as H released and set by the movement of the
door turnstile floor or other part which the voter is compelled to operate before
he can vote substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
12. In voting apparatus the combination with two or more spring-controlled
stamps such as G carrying striking plates such as G of a spring-controlled bar
such as K carrying bolts such as K substantially as and for the purpose described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
13. In a voting booth or equivalent the combination with two or more spring-
controlled stamps such as G of triggers such as H and a rack-bar and pawls
respectively such as K and L in operative connection with the door turnstile
movable floor or other part which the voter is compelled to operate before he can
vote substantially as and for the purpose described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.
14. The combination with two or more stamps or devices for mechanically marking
the voting papers of movable bars such as N for the purpose of preventing two or
more of the stamps being operated at the same time substantially as described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
15. The combination with a stamp or device for mechanically marking the
voting papers of counting mechanism substantially as and for the purpose
described.
16. In a voting booth the combination with a stamp or device for mechanically
marking the voting papers of a drawer or box separable therefrom containing
mechanism for registering the number of votes given substantially as described.
17. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete
voting apparatus substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 28th day of January 1896.
DAVID
SALOMON.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicant.