CHAPTER XXXII.

THE AUSTRALIAN BALLOT SYSTEM.

1. Origin and History.-In 1857 Francis S. Dutton, a member of the Legislature of South Australia, proposed a plan of voting which became a law and has become familiar under the name of the Australian Ballot System. The excellence of its essential principles was recognized, and it has been adopted in a modified form in Europe, Canada, and the United States. With us Massachusetts led in the reform in 1888, followed the next year by Indiana, Montana, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, and Connecticut.

2.

Essential Features.-While many states have adopted the principles of the Australian ballot, perhaps no two have enacted the same details; but at least two essential features are present in all statutes of the states that have adopted the system:

(1) Polling Places.-There is an arrangement of polling places upon some uniform plan intended to secure the secrecy of the ballot, and remove the voter beyond the reach of solicitation, bargaining, trading, intimidation, coercion, and every form of undue and improper influence.

(2) Official Ballots.-An official ballot is prepared and distributed under the authority of the State, and is printed at public expense, on which appear the names of all candidates who have been nominated by any party or organization recognized by law, together with the names of the parties making the nominations, and the name of the office for which nominated. These are two prevailing forms of the ballot.

The blanket ballot is the form most in use. In it the candidates may be grouped either by parties or by offices. The Australian ballot proper groups the names of all candidates for the same office together in one column. The form of the blanket ballot known as the Belgian ballot, is the one in general use in the United States. In it the names of candidates are arranged in parallel columns on the same sheet of paper, each column representing the candidates of a particular party, with the name of the party making the nominations printed at the top; and in some states a picture or device of some kind is also printed as the emblem of a particular party, so that the illiterate vcter may recognize the column in which the names of the candidates of that party are printed. The Australian ballot encourages voting upon the individual merits of the candidates; the Belgian ballot encourages the maintenance of party organization, and makes it easier to vote the "straight ticket." In the United States we have government by political organization to an extent that prevails nowhere else; hence, the Belgian ballot has proven the more popular.

The individual ballot is used in New Jersey. It is official in that it is printed at public expense; but an unofficial ballot is practically in use, since the voter is allowed to take into the voting booth a paster ballot, printed and furnished at private expense, which he may past over the official ballot.

3. Some Forms in Use.—In Massachusetts the names of all candidates for the same office are printed in one column, under the name of the office, but the party name also appears opposite the name of each candidate. Greater prominence is therefore given to the individual candidate than to the party of which he is the nominee. The voter cannot vote a straight ticket by making a single mark: he must make a mark opposite the name of each person voted for.

In the Louisville ballot party names do not appear. Promi

nence is given to the individual candidate to the exclusion of party. It more closely resembles the Australian ballot than anything else in the United States.

In the Indiana ballot, which is the prevailing type in this country, the name of the party appears at the head of each ticket as well as at the side of each name. Candidates are grouped according to party in parallel columns. Party organization is made prominent; but, while individual voting is provided for, the obvious purpose is to secure a strict party vote.

4. The West Virginia Law.-The State adopted a modification of the Australian system in 1891. We shall now indicate an outline of its most important features.

(1) Election Precincts.-Each magisterial district is divided into convenient precincts with fixed boundaries, and with one voting place in each precinct.

The

(2) Commissioners and Clerks.—Three qualified voters are appointed by the county court as commissioners of election in each precinct, selected from the two political parties casting the highest number of votes in their magisterial district. county executive committee of each party may nominate one commissioner. Not more than two commissioners may belong to the same political party. The commissioners appoint a poll clerk from each of the dominant parties.

(3) Pollbooks and Ballotboxes.-These are provided for each place of voting, at public expense, by the clerk of the county court of each county, according to forms and specifications prescribed by law.

(4) The Ballot. The Belgian blanket ballot is used. All nominations are certified to a board of ballot commissioners, by whom the official ballots are prepared, printed, and distributed among the voting precints in proportion to the number of votes cast at the last general election. Every ballot issued must be accounted for.

(5) Votingbooths.-Each precinct has a room or building in which to hold elections. It is supplied with not less than two nor more than five booths or compartments, with a table or shelf and materials for preparing ballots, so that the voter may be secure from the observation of others. A guard rail is arranged so that no unauthorized person can approach within five feet of the ballot-box while the ballot is being taken.

(6) Voting.-Only one voter for each booth may enter the polling place at the same time. Each voter on entering the room announces his name and place of residence, and receives from the poll clerk one ballot. He then enters alone one of the compartments and prepares his ballot. At the request of the voter, if he can not read or write, or if he has some physical disability, the poll clerks together may assist in making out his ballot. He then folds the ballot, announces his name, hands his ballot to one of the commissioners, and retires immediately from the room and beyond the limit of sixty feet. No voter is permitted to occupy a booth longer than five minutes, or to hold conversation or communication with any person other than the poll clerks or commissioners, while in the election room.

(7) Ascertaining the Results.-When the polls are closed the commissioners and clerks must, without adjourning, count the votes, ascertain the results, and certify, deliver, and post the returns, in the manner prescribed by law.

(8) Board of Canvassers --The commissioners of the county court convene as a board of canvassers on the fifth day after the election, excluding Sunday, and make up and enter of record, in a book called the "Election Record," the results of the election in their county. They make up and transmit

certificates of election as follows:

For county and district officers one copy to each person voted for;

For State Senators and Delegates one copy to each person voted for and one to the Secretary of State.

For the executive officers of the State one copy as to each office to the Secretary of State to be by him delivered to the Speaker of the House of Delegates to be opened and published in Joint Assembly.

For judges, representatives in Congress, and presidential electors one copy in each case to the Governor, who ascertains the name of the party elected, makes proclamation thereof, and issues his commission accordingly.

(9) Enforcement of Election Laws.-The offences relating to elections are numerous, and are punished either as folonies or misdemeanors, depending on the gravity of the offense. Felonies are punished by confinement in the penitentiary; misdemeanors, by fine, or fine and imprisonment in the county jail. Among the offences may be enumerated neglect or misconduct of election officers; voting twice; procuring bad votes to be admitted or good ones rejected; tampering, &c., with the ballot-box; destroying, injuring, altering, &c., poll-books, ballots, etc.; using force or intimidations at elec tions; bribery, betting on elections; treating voters; selling intoxicating liquors on election days; drunkenness at or near the place of election; requesting a voter to exhibit his ticket; inspecting a ticket, or giving a ticket, within sixty feet of the polls.