Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 November 1908 — TROUBLE WITH THE VOTING MACHINES. [ARTICLE]

TROUBLE WITH THE VOTING MACHINES.

That even voting machines are not the howling success many people would have us believe is evidenced by trouble with them in the late election in various parts of the state. In our neighboring county of Newton 77 votes were lost entirely—that is, 77 voters went into the polling rooms and either did not press the buttons properly to register their vote at all or else when they got In they became confused and would not admit their ignorance of knowing how to operate the machine and came out without attempting to vote. At any rate, the combined vote of all the candidates was less than the number of voters registered who entered the polling rooms. In Jackson township, in which Mt. Ayr si located, Cox? the democratic candidate for Secretary of State, received but 19 votes while the rest of the democratic state ticket received 109. The machine evidently afiled to register for his name, as it is not at all probable that any democrat would scratch Cox alone. Voting machines have no doubt come to stay, but they must be made to work more accurately and the voters must familiarise themselves more with them.