Frank Keiper

“ The necessity for them has been emphasized by election practice in many parts of the United States, where in a single election there have been from five to ten parties on the ballot, with an aggregate of four hundred or five hundred candidates, making the paper ballots large and difficult to handle. The objections to the paper ballot are further emphasized in the results obtained. The number of void and blank ballots is seldom less than 5% of the number of voters voting, and is often as high as 40%. This lost vote is often greater than the majority of the successful candidate. ”

“ Speed is shown by the fact that in the city of Buffalo, with 60,000 voters voting on election day, the complete returns, including the vote on over 100 candidates for the whole city, have been collected, tabulated and announced within 75 minutes from the closing of the polls, Economy is shown by the fact that although these machines are used but one or two days in each year, election expenses are reduced to such an extent that the machines pay for themselves in five or six elections. ”

“ On this web the votes of each candidate were all punched in a single column, each separate column representing a separate candidate. The voter does not see the web, which is removed from the machine by the election officers after the election is over, and the vote thereon is canvassed by passing the web through a pneumatic counting machine. The paper web makes a separate record of each man's ballot that can be identified by a person skilled in the use of the machine. The machine is also slow in giving returns, due to the fact that the vote has to be counted after the election. ”

“ In other types of machines each candidate had a separate receptacle, into which the machine dropped a ball for each vote that was cast for the candidate. These machines have so far not been successful. The whole development of practical voting machines has been limited to those machines in which a separate counter is provided for each candidate, the counter being operated either directly or indirectly by the voter. ”

“ The vertical movement of the operating bar counts the vote on each of these slides, rings a bell, which notifies the election officer that a vote has been cast, and locks the machine against further voting. The election officer then moves a slide which resets the machine for the next voter. The machine is limited in its application because two or more candidates on the same office line cannot be voted for by the same voter, although the voter may be entitled to vote for more than one candidate. ”

“ In close elections there is an endless dispute as to whether the disputed ballots do or do not comply with the law. The election contest and recount expenses frequently exceed the cost of holding the election, and the title of the candidates to the office is frequently held in abeyance by a protracted contest until after the term of office has expired. A number of ways have been devised for marking the Australian ballot for identification without destroying its legality. ”

“ Many of the states have special requirements, to meet which many ingenious features have been provided on the various machines. Among these is the group of 18 supervisors in San Francisco, for which office as many as 108 candidates have appeared upon one ballot, out of which the machine must permit the voter to vote any 18 and no more, regardless of the sequence in which they are selected, or the position in which they occur. ”

“ Another of these local features is the primary election feature required by Minnesota, in which state the various parties must hold their primary election at the same time and on the same machine. The voter announcing the party of his preference finds the voting devices on the machine of all other parties locked against him, but the voting devices of his own party are open to his use. ”

“ The U.S. Standard Voting Machine has had the most extensive use of any. A separate key is provided for each candidate, which keys are arranged on the keyboard of the machine in horizontal party rows and vertical office lines. ”

“ The city of Buffalo has a dozen or more precincts, in each of which 800 voters or more are voted in an election day of ten hours, and in that city as many as 1041 voters have voted in one election day on one machine. ”

“ VOTING MACHINES. The complications in the voting at American elections have resulted in the invention of various machines for registering and counting the ballots. These machines are in fact mechanical Australian ballots. ”

“ As to the important benefits attending the use of machines, there can be mentioned accuracy both in the casting and the counting of the vote, speed in getting in returns, and economy in holding elections. The improvement in accuracy is shown by the fact that the vote for each office usually runs 99% or more of the highest possible vote that could be registered by the number of voters that have voted. ”

“ These machines have been built large enough to provide for seven parties of sixty candidates each, and for thirty questions and amendments, a machine of such size carrying 480 counters, besides the total vote and protective counters. ”