Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1899 — VOTING MACHINES. [ARTICLE]

VOTING MACHINES.

Results of Their Use In New York State Generally Satisfactory. In the elections on Tuesday, November 7, 225 Standard voting machines were used in this state, distributed as follows: Buffalo, 108; Rochester, 73; Utica, 26: Ithaca, 10; Albion, 5; Canisteo 2, and Weat Winfield, 1, Extra machines, held in reserve to meet ap*

cidents or other emergencies, are not included in the enumeration. High praise of the machines come from all quarters. They have met every promise of convenience to voters, speed in voting,- automatic and instantaneous footings of the total number of votes «ast for each candidate, and a promptness in announcing the aggregate result in a city or village proportioned to the quickness with which the returns from each district were conveyed to a central point and tabulated. Ithaca seems to be the banner town in this last respect, with a record of 17 minutes in gathering and adding the figures from 10 machines. Of the 225 machines used mishaps were reported to only seven, and these were due in three cases to malicious vandalism and breakage by violence; in three cases to a misplacement of keys by election officers, delaying the unlocking of the machines promptly at the appointed time on election morning, and in one case to the strong arm of an ignorant fellow who gave the voting lever a fierce wrench in the wrong direction. In none of these cases was a serious delay caused, nor did a single citizen lose his vote. In addition to their speed and accuracy the machines are so constructed as to make it' impossible to cast a defective vote, to “repeat” or to commit any fraud or irregularity. On the score of guaranteeing to every citizen the exercise of the voting privilege without risk of disfranchisement on account of blunders, the machines seem absolutely perfect. Their superiority to the official ballot in this respect i 3 plain and striking, and is demonstated.by official records. All in all, the voting machine is one of the inventive triumphs of the age, and it is as sure, in the near future, to displace the printed ballot as steam has proved to be in putting out of date the stage coach ard the packet boat.—Rochester (N. Y.) Democrat.