Year: 1870




well be made to fill a vacancy on ac
count of the magnitude of the office
the long duration of the unexpiret
term, or because 1t Is difficult in th,
given case to select proper appointin,
power, a popular election to fill the va
cancy may be provided for. In sucl
case l would call only upon the voter
who had previously voted for the Officer
or person whose place is to be filled ant
would confine the right of choice tc
them. The other voters of the constit
uency or district ought not to partici
pate in such election for evident reason:
and should be excluded. But at this
point an objector may say that it will
be difficult to distinguish the proper
voters from others and to confine the
electoral privilege to them. 1 do not
think so. The party position of most
men is fully known in their own elec.
tion districts, and in doubtful cases the
right of challenge will guard against
improper votes. The official lists of vo.
ters taken down at former election
can be referred to for the prevention OF
fraud, and any one Offering to vote may
be called upon to prove by his own oa th
or by other testimony that he voted al
such former election for the officer or
person whose place is to be filled. Be-
sides, as there will be no struggle be-
tween political parties for majority at
such elections, the most fertile of all
causes of fraud will be wholly excluded
from them. In fact when there shall
be but one candidate at such an election,
(which will be the ordinary case) there
will be no motive at all for fraud and
its existen ,e will be rendered impossi.
BILE.


But am quite certain that when the
free vote or some similar plan of reform
shall come into general use, secret vot-
ing will be entirely dispensed with be-
cause it will no longer be necessary to
the protection Of the voter against in
timidation and other forms of improp-
er influence. The ballot may remain
to us but it will be an open one-proba-
bly, in the slip-ticket form and large
amount of mystery, intrigue, deception
and meanness will be expelled from
elections. And, by numbering the bal
lots when voted, or by other means
easily applied, it will be possible to
prove afterwards beyond dispute for
whom any voter cast his votes. Possibly
we may come at last to plan of regis
tering votes which will still more COM
pletely or conveniently enable us to
classify voters and determine for whom
they voted. AT all events, by dispens-
ing with the secret vote we shall possess
greater facilities than now for the prop
er polling of votes at special elections.


LOCAL USE OF REFORMED VOTING,


The free vote was first used in an elec.
tion at Bloomsbury, in this State, on
the 18th of April last, when six persons
were to be chosen members of the town
Council for the ensuing year. The re-
suit was that three Democrats and three
Republicans were elected. 1t was again
used in the same town on the second
Tuesday of the present month in the
choice of Constables, Assessors, Assis-
tant Assessors, School Directors and
Town Auditors. Altogether, at the two
town elections, seventeen officers have
been chosen under the new plan and
they are all good men and are fairly di.
vided between parties. Not one person
among the whole six hundred voters of
the town is known 20 have expressed
against the change, or is believ-
ed to be desirous of returning to the old
and unfair majority vote. In short, the
change has been completely satisfactory
and is strongly endorsed by public
opinion.


Directors of the Poor for the Bloom
Poor District in Columbia county (the
district containing one thousand two
hundred votersl were also chosen at the
October election under the new plan
and in satisfactory manner. The ma
ority elected two and the minority
one.


In the county of Northumberland, in
Sunbury, Northumberland and other
boroughs, the new plan was also tried
at the recent election principally in the
choice of Councilmen) and with good
and satisfactory results.


Certain advantages of the new plan
not foreseen, or not foreseen distinctly,
in these local elections. In
the first place, they showed that
the number ofcandidates at an election
will be greatly reduced by the new plan;
that in most cases no more persons will
run than can be elected, because each
party will nominate only the number
{ has votes toelect. Next, it was shown
hat blunders in nomination, either as
o the number of candidates to be sup.
ported or as to individual nominations,
'ould be readily and certainly corrected |
~ the voters at the legal election. AL. |
o, that boiling las it is called) is de-
'rived to great extent of its mischie-
'ous character, boilers being only able
" ASPiSoSht thSlioOiNCo ny oWu
'otes when their number is adequate,
Without being able TO turn an election
Upside down or prevent just division
# the offices between parties. 1t was
.lso clearly shown at those elections
hat the preparation, polling, counting
nd return of fractional Votes, in cases
where their use was found desirable,
vas quite simple and convenient, occa.
ioning no difficulty, uncertainty or
onfusion.


PROGRESS OF REFORM.


The State of New York a few years
ince used the limited vote in choosing
hirty-two delegates at large to her
constitutional Convention. No voter
vas allowed to vote for more than six
cen. More recently she chose the six
Associate Judges of her highest court |
N the same principle; no voter was