Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1891 — THE NEW SYSTEM. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE NEW SYSTEM.

rhe Careless Ones Lost Their Votes, but Generally the System Worked All Right. The Australian ballot was employed for the first time in Ohio, and reports from the principal cities show that it worked very well throughout the State. As an instrument to secure a secret ballot it performed Its office well, but through Ignorance of its proper working in the part of both the voters and the slection judges a number of votes were ost. This state of affairs was brought About by the mistakes of the voters in marking thsir tickets and the inability of judges to handle the crowds in product* where the reglftra lon was heavy.

Of course this hardship came alone to those who had put off the task of voting until the last moment allowed under the law, and then there was not enough time to hand e them properly. Other features of the law commended it to the good opinion of citizens, for in its excercise the mission of the ward bummer is forever ended and the political heeler is without an occupation. Advices from the rural districts are to the effect that quite a number of votes were lost through the ignorance of the voters, although schools.had been established in all the townships for the education of tho masses. Very few voters ti ed the five minutes allotted, and many required only a minute, and some less than a minute. A noticeable effect of the new law was the large amount of straight tickets polled, voters evidently fearing to piace more than one mark on their ballot through fear of destroying their vote. The only criticism heard against the new election law is tho large additional expense for erecting booths at each precinct in order that the voter may deposit a secret ballot Rut complaint was general .that the booths were poorly lighted, making “scratching” a difficult operation It is said that both candidates, McKinley and Campbell, avoided all difficulty in this lino by voting their tickets straight

In Chicago victors and vanquished are agreed on one thing, and that is that the new election law worked charmingly. Now that the law has been tried and found satisfactory, both Republicans and Democrats are wondering how an election was ever conducted without it. The only citizens who spoke disparagingly of it were the professional ticket peddlers. As the new law abolishes the occupation of the ticket peddler, it is not to be wondered at that he views it with disfavor. Of course there will be still men at the polls, or rather within 100 feet of them, who will consider it their duty to offer suggestions to the voters as to the candidates who should be favored with their franchise 1 , but then they will not be ticket peddlers. A citizen can only vote an official ballot, and this must be given to him by one of the judges of election. The peddler, like any ordinary citizen, can get only one ballot. A peddler without ballots is not regard-

ed as either useful or ornamental at tho polls by the political organizations that formerly paid him highly for his services. The ticket peddler was out of sight. No one seemed to regret his disappearance. The voter who in former days had suffered at his hands was satisfied that the new law had accomplished at least one good purpose- The ticket peddler was not mourned by the police, the judges or tho voters. As had been anticipated, the straight ticket, as a rule, was voted. There were many who had only an imperfect knowledge of how to prepare their ballots. To avoid an error which might cause the rejection of their ballot, they usually placed X in the circle before the appellation of their party. As it required only a second to make this X in the circle, the citizen who voted a straight ticket only remained in the booth for a brief time. The voter who was not pleased with his party ticket was easily recognized, for he spent some minutes in retirement preparing his ballot. As the great majority of the voters deposited with the judges a straight ticket there were not as many errors committed as had been predicted. The election demonstrated the fact that but little, if any, effective work can be performed by campaign managers on the day of election. The voter is free from intimidation, and enjoys in the secrecy of the booths the fullest liberty to exorcise his franchise. The representatives of tho two leading parties expressed themselves as thoroughly satisfied with the new law so far as it relates to election day, at all events. It gives no advantage to either party, and it assures an election free from disorder and strife at the polls. The defeated party does not hold the law in any way responsible for its overthrow. A member of the campaign committee stated that the defeat was due to the fact that the apathy of the voters in the campaign remained with them during election day.

J. B. CAMPBELL, Defeated Ohio Candidate.