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REPORT OF THE COMMISSION 
 
 FOR THE PURPOSE OF 
 
 Examining, Testing and Investigating 
 
 VOTING MACHINES 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SENATE AND ASSEMBLY 
 Thirty-Third Session of the Legislature 
 
 OF THE 
 
 State of California. 
 
 7w^ 
 
 OAKLAND 
 ENQUIRER PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 1898 
 
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION 
 
 FOR THE PURPOSE OF 
 
 Examining, Testing and Investigating 
 
 VOTING MACHINES 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SENATE AND ASSEMBLY 
 Thirty-Third Session of the Legislature 
 
 OF THE 
 
 State of California. ^> !s tt^ 
 
 /"lib>U 
 
 OAKLAND 
 ENQUIRER PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 1898 
 

Oakland, November 15, 1898. 
 
 To the Senate and Assembly of the 
 Thirty-third Session of the Legis- 
 lature of the State of California : 
 
 fl 
 
 |u compliance with an Act — (see Appendix "A") — passed 
 at the last session of the Legislature — approved March 
 27, 1897, — creating a Commission for the purpose of examining, 
 testing and investigating Voting Machines, the undersigned 
 were duly appointed Commissioners by the Governor. On 
 May 21, 1897, this Commission met in San Francisco and 
 organized by the election of W. M. Hinton as president and 
 C. B. Morgan as secretary. An office was engaged in the 
 Central Bank Building, Oakland, and regular meetings were 
 ordered to be held on the first and third Saturdays in each 
 month. Notice of the organization of the Commission, the 
 time and place of meeting, and the purpose for which it was 
 created, was given to the Associated Press and generally 
 published in the newspapers. Special notice was given, from 
 time to time, by letter containing a copy of the Act creating 
 the Commission, to the following named Inventors and those 
 interested in Voting Machines: 
 
 DATE. NAME. ADDRESS. 
 
 May 25, 1897. .Hamilton Kibbie Oblong, 111. 
 
 May 25, 1897. .F. X. St. Louis Elk Creek P. O., Glenn Co., 
 
 Cal. 
 
 June 5, 1897 . . A. O. Abbott Hudson, Mich. 
 
 June 5, 1897 John Blocher Franklin Grove, 111. 
 
 June 5, 1897. .S. Aronson Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 June 5, 1897. .Geo. A Cline Toronto, Canada 
 
 June 5, 1897. .E. H. Davis Elmira, N. Y. 
 
 June 7, 1897. .D. Dobbins Franklin, Ind. 
 
 June 7, 1897 . . S. E. Davis Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 June 7, 1897 . . W. W. Ford Longview, Tex. 
 
 June 7, 1897 . A. J. Gillespie Atlantic, Iowa 
 
 June 7, 1897 . . F. H. Gilbert Ridgefield, Wash. 
 
 June 9, 1897. .C. Christensen 1115 10th Ave., East Oakland 
 
DATE. NAME. ADDRESS. 
 
 June 9, 1897. .Win. H. Honiss Hartford, Conn. 
 
 June 5, 1897. .L. S. Harmsen Minneapolis, Minn. 
 
 June 9, 1897. .L. Y. McCounell Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 June 9, 1897 . J. H. Myers Rochester, N. Y, 
 
 June 9, 1897 . ..P. S. McGee Dodgeville, Mass. 
 
 June 9, 1897. .J. H. McTammany Spencer, Mass. 
 
 June 5, 1897. .C. F. Roper Hopedale, Mass. 
 
 June 9, 1897.. . C. A. Stitzer Central City, Neb. 
 
 June 9, 1897. J. H. vScotford Portland, Or. 
 
 June 9, 1897. .Geo. W. Trahan Howena, La. 
 
 June 10, 1897. .F. C. Moseback 522 Montgomery St., S. F. 
 
 June 10, 1897.. C. E. Stanton Santa Ana, Orange Co., Cal. 
 
 June 12, 1897 . . G. E. Kennedy Livermore, Cal. 
 
 June 12, 1897 . J. B. Clot San Franciso, Cal. 
 
 June 12, 1897. .S. Ducas San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 June 12, 1897. .H. A. Clifford San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 June 12, 1897. J. Mourot Modesto, Cal. 
 
 June 12, 1897. .T. D. Strong San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 June 12, 1897. J. G. Sweeney Petaluma, Cal. 
 
 June 14, 1897 . . Dr. A. Grim Franklin Grove, 111. 
 
 June 16, 1897. .Daniel Davis 115 E. Henry St., Elraira, 
 
 N. Y. 
 
 June 16, 1897. .A. S. Hamilton.. Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 Aug. 27, 1897 . . A. B. Foster Oakland, Cal. 
 
 Sept. 8, 1897. .C. Iv. Sturges Escondido, Cal. 
 
 Sept. 30,1897. . Wm. R. Pike St. Paul, Minn. 
 
 Oct. 2, 1897 . . Henry Weber N. Temescal, Cal. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .Lorenzo J. Markoo White Bear, Minn. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .Henry H. Niebur Ferndale, Cal. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897 . . Edwin B. Olmstead .... Delevan, N. Y. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .Edwin G. Richards Sharon, Mass. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .Enoch H. Towne Worcester, Mass. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .Rhines Ballot System Co. . .St. Paul, Minn. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .Clinton L,. Bancroft Browns, Humboldt Co, Cal. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .A. C. Beranck Chicago, 111. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. Jas. G. H. Buck Dallas, Tex. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .Edwin B. Cummings Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. . Wm. M. Cutter Marysville, Cal. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1 897... Montana Vote Registering. 
 
 Machine Co Missoula, Mont. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .Thos. G. Ferguson Colby, Kas. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. Jas. G. Hardy, Jr Canton, N. Y. 
 
 Oct. 20, 1897. .R. A. Hart Battle Creek, Mich. 
 
 Dec. 11, 1897.. .Davis Voting Machine Co.. New York, N. Y. 
 
 Dec. 11, 1897. .Clarence A. Evans Upland, Penn. 
 
 Dec. 11, 1897. .U. S. Voting Machine Co. Jamestown, N. Y. 
 Dec. 11, 1897. .George M. Greer McCool Junction, Neb. 
 
— 5 — 
 
 DATE. NAME. ADDRESS. 
 
 Dec. ii, 1897. .Chas. R. Rofer Hopedale, Mass. 
 
 Jan. 13, 1898. .Clement de Croes Westport, Ind. 
 
 Jan. 13, 1898... Jas. J. Cunningham and 
 
 Eugene H. Mullen Lynn, Mass. 
 
 Mar. 18, 1897. .Turner Voting Machine Co. Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 June 24, 1898 . John K. Hogan Placerville, Cal. 
 
 July 21, 1898. .A. J. Bolfing San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 Aug. 15, 1898. .Albert Snoock Hartford, Conn. 
 
 And responses, in person or by letter, were received from: 
 
 Hamilton Kibbie Oblong, 111. 
 
 F. X. St. Louis Elk Creek P. O., Glenn Co., 
 
 Cal. 
 A. C. Abbott Hudson, Mich. 
 
 E. H. Davis Elmira, N. Y. 
 
 A. J. Gillespie Atlantic, Iowa. 
 
 F. H. Gilbert Ridgefield, Wash. 
 
 C. Christensen 11 15 10th Ave., E. Oakland, 
 
 Cal. 
 
 Wm. H. Honiss Hartford, Conn. 
 
 J. H. Myers Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 J. H. McTammany Spencer, Mass. 
 
 P. C. Moseback 522 Montgomery St., S. F. 
 
 C. E. Stanton Santa Ana, Orange Co., Cal. 
 
 G. E. Kennedy Livermore, Cal. 
 
 H. A. Clifford San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 J. Mourot Modesto, Cal. 
 
 J. G. Sweeney Petaluma, Cal. 
 
 Dr. A. Grim Franklin Grove, 111. 
 
 Daniel Davis 1 15 E. Henry St. , Elmira, 
 
 N. Y. 
 
 A. B. Foster Oakland, Cal. 
 
 C. L. Sturges Escondido, Cal . 
 
 Wm. R. Pike St. Paul, Minn. 
 
 Henry Weber N. Temeseal, Cal. 
 
 Henry H. Niebur Ferndale, Cal. 
 
 Edwin B. Olmstead Delevan, N. Y. 
 
 Clinton L. Bancroft Browns, Humboldt Co., Cal 
 
 Edwin B. Cummings Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 Thos. G. Ferguson Colby, Kas. 
 
 Davis Voting Machine Co. .New York, N. Y. 
 
 Clarence A. Evans Upland, Penn. 
 
 Clement de Croes Westport, Ind. 
 
 Cunningham & Mullen. . . .Lynn, Mass. 
 Turner Voting Machine Co. Indianapolis, Ind. 
 
 J. C. Garrett San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 Jap Jones Oakland, Cal. 
 
— 6 — 
 
 Jeff Kindleberger San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 Standard Voting Machine 
 
 Co Rochester, N. Y. 
 
 S. A. Crumrine Los Angeles, Cal. 
 
 A. J. Bolfing San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 The question whether a provision for independent voting 
 was a necessary legal requirement arose early in our investi- 
 gations. In order to obtain light upon this subject the 
 secretary was, on July 3, 1897, directed to address the 
 Attorney- General upon the subject, and reference is hereby 
 made to Appendix " B " for the correspondence which 
 ensued. 
 
 Article 2, Section 1197, of the Political Code provides: — 
 " There shall be left at the end of the list of candidates for 
 each office as many blank spaces as there are persons to be 
 elected to such office, in which the voter may insert the name 
 of any person not printed upon the ballot for whom he desires 
 to vote as candidates for such office, and the name and blank 
 spaces on the whole ticket shall be consecutively numbered." 
 Whether this be merely a legislative provision or a Constitu- 
 tional requirement, it can be maintained, and modified so as 
 to be adapted to Machine Voting. 
 
 The additional mechanism required to permit a voter to 
 exercise such a privilege or right, of necessity, adds to the 
 cost of a machine and complicates its movements and prolongs 
 the time required in canvassing the result at the close of the 
 poll. Machines without such attachments will show the re- 
 sults of the poll as rapidly as they can be read. If, however, 
 an election should be contested on the ground that any voter 
 had been denied a constitutional right in consequence of no 
 provision having been made for independent voting, and such 
 contest should be sustained by the Supreme Court, the invest- 
 ment in such machines would be lost. This would involve 
 the loss of large sums of money and is a risk which can be 
 avoided by the adoption of a machine which provides for 
 independent voting. Some machines which are provided with 
 an attachment for independent voting preserve secrecy better 
 than the present ballot system, as the independent vote can- 
 not be associated with the votes cast for regular nominees. 
 Under the present ballot system any ballot can be readily 
 
< dentified by the voter and his patron arranging for a given 
 name to be written upon a given blank space (see Sec. 1197 
 Art. II) and the secrecy of the ballot be destroyed. 
 
 The newly adopted charter of San Francisco provides for 
 the election of eighteen Supervisors, to be elected at large, at 
 each election. Under the present ballot system eighteen 
 blank spaces would be provided for a voter to write in such 
 names as he might desire, and any attempt on the part of a 
 voter to vote repeatedly for the same person would be 
 apparent and such repeated votes, under existing law, would 
 not be counted. If no check is provided against cumulative 
 voting in the attachment for independent voting on a machine, 
 the door would be opened to favor unnominated candidates 
 over those regularly nominated. Thus: Eighteen votes for 
 Supervisor could be given by one voter to the man of his 
 choice while those regularly nominated could receive but one 
 vote from each voter, except on such machines as designedly 
 permit of cumulative voting. It becomes, therefore, of vital 
 importance that any device for independent voting must 
 detect and, unless permitted, prevent cumulative voting. 
 
 In order to permit a voter to write the name of any per- 
 son not printed upon the ticket for whom he desires to vote, 
 the inventors of voting machines have resorted to several 
 systems. Amongst these may be mentioned — First: The 
 dual system of machine and ballot box voting, which affords 
 the voter the option of voting by either method and which 
 necessitates the adding together of the results of each to ob- 
 tain the total vote for each candidate; Second : A device to 
 permit the voter to deposit some kind of a ballot within the 
 machine ; Third : A recording scroll attached to the machine 
 upon which a voter can write, but confining all such votes to 
 a lineal space for each voter so as to detect repeating. 
 
 The first system presents no improvement upon the 
 present ballot system and would only tend to complicate it. 
 The second offers little, if any, advantage over the first, as 
 the count of the ballots would have to be added to the results 
 shown upon the machines in order to obtain the total vote of 
 each candidate. 
 
 If only one ballot was employed upon which the names 
 of all candidates voted for would have to be written, such 
 
— 8 — 
 
 ballot could readily be identified by writing an agreed name 
 upon it. The same objection would apply if but one ballot 
 for co-ordinate offices should be used. In both those cases 
 voters who might desire to vote for, say, seventeen regularly 
 nominated candidates for Supervisor and one not nominated, 
 would be obliged to write the names of the eighteen and would 
 thus be subjected "to casting their votes upon more burden- 
 some conditions than are imposed upon others no better en- 
 titled under the fundamental law to the free and untrammeled 
 exercise of the right of suffrage." (Eaton vs. Brown 96Cal.) 
 On the other hand, if ballots upon which only one name could 
 be written were used, it would be necessary, in order to 
 detect cumulative voting, to have all ballots used by one 
 voter numbered alike. Such ballots would necessarily have 
 to be small and for the purpose of canvassing would have to 
 be segregated and placed in line. Should a large number of 
 such ballots be cast (for instance for eighteen Supervisors) the 
 system would prove impractical and be exposed to fraud by 
 substituting prepared ballots for those cast by the voters. 
 
 The third system will show at the close of the polls an 
 immediate and complete return of the votes cast for all 
 regularly nominated candidates whose names appear printed 
 upon the ballots attached to the machines, and from the 
 nature of the case the independent vote must be counted 
 separately as no one can foresee how many or for whom such 
 votes will be cast. 
 
 In this connection it is to be borne in mind that any 
 voting system is like a chain — its weakest link is the measure 
 of its strength. In the past, independent voting (aside from 
 its use to identify a ballot) has offered no opportunity for 
 abuse, but if in providing for independent voting in connec- 
 tion with machine voting an opportunity is opened for fraud, 
 it is safe to predict that this fraudulent method of voting will 
 be largely developed. 
 
 Inventors in designing voting machines, as a rule, have 
 adopted one of two plans, i.e., First: The arrangement of 
 parties at right angles to the offices to be filled, thus : 
 
— 9 — 
 
 
 Rep. 
 
 Dem. 
 
 Pop. 
 
 Social 
 
 Ind. 
 
 Irregular. 
 
 Mayor 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 Auditor 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Treasurer 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 City Attorney 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 City Rngineer 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 or the reverse arrangement — and 
 
 Second : The arrangement of candidates in groups for 
 the same office, practically as they are now printed upon the 
 ballots under the existing law. By the first plan an increase 
 in the number of parties or independent candidates in excess 
 of the columns established upon the machine would render 
 such machine useless for the purpose of conducting an elec- 
 tion. In view of the tendency to increase in the number of 
 parties this becomes a matter of much importance, as an 
 increase in the number of parties in excess of the capacity of 
 a Machine would block an election. 
 
 The second plan permits an increase in the number of 
 parties and candidates by coupling machines together until 
 all candidates have been accommodated. 
 
 Under the first plan the following machines have been 
 designed : 
 McTammany. 
 
 Standard Voting Machine Co. 
 H. H. Niebur. 
 U. S, Ballot Box. 
 
 And under the second plan are the following : 
 California Voting Machine Co. 
 Christ Christensen. 
 Ellis Ballot Machine Co. 
 National Voting Machine. 
 
 In designing Voting Machines, inventors have in many 
 cases arranged for the casting of an entire party vote by the 
 movement of one key, simultaneously locking all others. 
 Under the decision of the Supreme Court of this State in 
 Ea|ton vs. Brown, California Reports 96, folio 371, "Voters 
 can only express their choice by placing a stamp opposite the 
 name of their candidate for each office or by writing the 
 name of a candidate in a blank space left therefor or their 
 
IO 
 
 answer to each question or proposition or proposed amend- 
 ment to the Constitution, except only in case of presidential 
 electors, who may under the law be voted for in groups by a 
 single impression of the stamp." 
 
 The above ruling applied to a voting machine would ren- 
 der mechanisms for casting a party vote by the operation of 
 one key superfluous, and such mechanisms if retained would 
 only tend to confuse a voter. Machines designed for candi- 
 dates for the same office to be grouped together and for all 
 candidates to be voted for separately, correspond with the 
 existing law and rulings in this State — the provision in the 
 case of presidential electors excepted. 
 
 Machines in which a paper roll is provided upon which a 
 voter can write the names of those for whom he desires to 
 vote, whose names do not appear upon the printed ballot, 
 make it possible to write a key name, if two or more co-ordi- 
 nate offices are to be voted for at large. This applies to any 
 form of ballot, and any attempt to prevent it involves a con- 
 tradiction or opens the door for cumulative voting. The 
 only absolute solution is either to forbid independent voting 
 or to permit every voter to file a complete list of candidates 
 to be printed on the bollot. The first method might prove to 
 be unconstitutional and the latter would be a practical 
 absurdity. 
 
 The use of a paper roll for the independent vote, disas- 
 sociated from the voting keys for regular candidates, while 
 not theoretically perfect, appears to be the nearest practical 
 solution of the subject. 
 
 In investigating and testing voting machines we have 
 found two dangers to be guarded against : one, manipula- 
 tion on the part of a voter to cause the machine to register 
 more than such voter is entitled to ; and the other, manipula- 
 tion on the part of the person charged with preparing the 
 machine for an election, by which the returns may be 
 falsified. 
 
 Machines which record all the votes cast by each individ- 
 ual by one movement, after or as the voter leaves the voting 
 booth, are less liable to be tampered with by the voter than 
 those which attempt to lock each key as the voter proceeds 
 to cast his vote. The separate locking of each voting device, 
 
— II — 
 
 <§ 
 
 as used, is open to the objection that it prevents a voter from 
 correcting a mistake, while those which operate all the regis- 
 tering devices by one motion, only record the used keys as 
 left by the voter and hence afford no temptation or possibility 
 for repeating. 
 
 The danger of manipulation of the machinery on the 
 part of the persons charged with preparing the machines for 
 an election is not so easily guarded against in the design and 
 construction of the machine, but to meet this difficulty we 
 would suggest, in case the legislature adopts a machine which 
 provides for the arrangement of candidates in groups for one 
 office, that : "As soon as the period for recording nomina- 
 tions by parties and by petition is closed, all machines to be 
 used in the ensuing election shall be examined and put into 
 order by expert officers, to be appointed by the Board of 
 Election Commissioners ; and the counting mechanism placed 
 at zero. The machines shall then be locked and sealed so as 
 to prevent any access to the working parts. Ten days before 
 the holding of an election the name of each candidate for the 
 same office or co-ordinate offices shall be written on a sepa- 
 rate piece of paper, which shall be folded so that the name 
 written thereon cannot be seen or read without unfolding the 
 same ; and when the names are so written and folded they 
 shall be placed in a box to be provided for the purpose and 
 thoroughly shaken. The Board of Election Commissioners 
 shall then open said box in the presence of a majority of 
 said Board and in the presence of such members of the vari- 
 ous political parties as may be present to witness the same, 
 and shall then take from said box such slips of paper and the 
 names thus drawn for each group of candidates shall be 
 placed upon the machines in the order in which they are 
 taken from the box. If a machine with party columns is 
 adopted, the columns could be drawn for in like manner. By 
 the adoption of this method all temptation to prepare a count- 
 ing mechanism so as to favor or injure the record of a candi- 
 date would be removed and all danger of the manipulation of 
 the machine by those charged with preparing same for an 
 election would be eliminated. This method would also 
 remove the objection to the present alphabetical arrangement 
 of names on the ballot, which tends to favor candidates 
 
12 
 
 whose names commence with the early letters of the alphabet. 
 
 Special provisions to fit the construction of any voting 
 machine which may be authorized by the legislature will 
 have to be substituted for the detailed instructions governing 
 election boards now incorporated in the election laws of the 
 State, but no radical change in the methods of conducting 
 elections will be required in substituting the machine for the 
 ballot. It will be advisable to retain Section 1210 of Art. II. 
 (Appendix "C") so modified as to furnish instructions to 
 voters how to use machines for voting and furnish them with 
 a fac-simile of the ballot as placed on the machines. 
 
 By the use of machines it will be possible to avoid such 
 crudities as are involved in Sec. 1255, Art. II, which reads, 
 in part: "The ballots must be immediately replaced in the 
 box and if the ballots in the box exceed in number the names 
 on the lists, one of the judges must publicly and without 
 looking in the box, draw out therefrom singly and destroy, 
 unopened, a number of ballots equal to such excess." 
 
 Under this provision no voter is certain that his vote will 
 be counted — the ballot of an honest elector may be cancelled 
 and the fraudulent one retained. The mere casting of a bal- 
 lot does not insure its being counted or, if canvassed, that it 
 will be read off correctly. In a properly designed machine 
 every vote cast will be correctly counted and no more votes 
 can be cast than the total number of voters taking part in the 
 election . 
 
 We have examined in detail the following inventions : 
 
 J. G. SWEENEY, San Francisco, Cal. 
 
 His system consists of tally sheets enclosed in a case with 
 glass top and sides. In each case there are four tally sheets 
 arranged in two columns, each column occupying half the 
 length of the case. Two of the tally sheets are attached to 
 each of a double set of rollers, which operate to move the 
 tally sheets one voting space for each voter. The names of 
 all regularly nominated candidates are printed in columns and 
 are fixed on one side and in the middle of the case, so that 
 when the tally sheets, which are ruled in parallel lines the 
 length of such sheets, are moved, the spaces between such 
 lines come opposite the names of the candidates, Slots are 
 
— 13 — 
 
 cut in the glass top of the case so that an X can be stamped 
 upon the tally sheet opposite the candidates for whom a voter 
 may desire to vote, and all the X's thus stamped appear in 
 line. If a voter desire to vote for a person whose name is not 
 printed upon the ballot he can write the name upon the tally 
 sheet crosswise through the slot. As each voter completes 
 stamping the tally sheet and leaves the booth, an election 
 officer moves a handle outside the booth, which moves the 
 part of the tally sheet used by the voter out of sight and 
 rings a bell to indicate that the act has been completed. The 
 unused portion of the tally sheet, for a space of about six 
 inches, is always in view of the voters, through the glass top 
 of the case, so that if any X's were stamped upon the tally 
 sheet in advance of the election, such action would be open 
 to detection. For an election two or more of such cases are 
 used in each precinct and at the close of the polls all of the 
 tally sheets are taken from the cases and are placed in a square 
 basket, where they are so shaken that the identity of each is 
 lost and all knowledge of the continuity of the voters who 
 have used them is destroyed. Each tally list is then placed 
 back into the cases and passed under the open slots for in- 
 spection so as to discover whether any voter has exceeded the 
 number of votes to which he was entitled. If such be found the 
 
 election officers stamp such excess X's with a circle, thus: (\h 
 
 After all the tally sheets have been inspected they are taken 
 from the cases and are separately placed upon a table and the 
 
 number of X's — (jQ omitted — for each candidate are counted 
 and the total set down at the right end of the sheet. After 
 such count is completed the tally sheets, which are lettered 
 AA, BB, etc., to correspond with a like lettering upon the 
 section of the ballot appearing upon the top of the machine, 
 are placed in juxtaposition to their respective sections of the 
 ballot, and not until then is the count for each candidate dis- 
 closed. 
 
 This system would save the printing, numbering and 
 binding of ballots, the services of ballot-clerks on an election 
 board, and would obviate the misreading of ballots, either by 
 accident or design, as well as the mistakes which, under the 
 
— 14 — 
 
 present system, are possible in marking the tally sheets. In 
 other words, the voter would record his wishes directly upon 
 the tally sheet without the intervention of ballots and officials. 
 The size of the machine is not objectionable and the system 
 can be mechanically carried out in a simple and satisfactory 
 manner. 
 
 The system does not, however, overcome one objection 
 to the present ballot system: i. e., the identifying the act of a 
 voter by writing a key name in independent voting. As all the 
 X's of one voter appear in line when the tally sheet is being 
 inspected, a given name written upon the tally sheet through 
 the slot, will disclose the voter to any one in the secret who 
 has access to the inspection. The use of a lever in charge of 
 an election officer to move the tally sheet forward, while im- 
 mediately protected by the sound of a bell, would in practice 
 become liable to abuse, as the sounding of bells for two or 
 more machines would in time become confusing and in such 
 a case a voter might purposely be permitted to repeat his 
 vote. No one officer could be held responsible for an excess 
 of votes as no one officer could be expected to operate the 
 lever during the entire length of an election. Furthermore, 
 it would be possible to manipulate the bell in the machine so 
 that it would strike but once, even if a privileged voter had 
 used a number of voting spaces. 
 
 Any device which permits a voter to repeat his vote while 
 in the voting booth is liable to abuse and cannot be too care- 
 fully guarded against. Such devices should be automatic and 
 not be dependent upon the honesty or watchfulness of an 
 election officer. 
 
 J. B. TERRIU,, Newark, Cal. 
 
 This system consists of a number of boxes enclosing 
 tollers upon which tally sheets are placed so as to move from 
 one roller to another as they are used. Above the rollers there 
 is a perforated sheet to correspond with the voting squares of 
 an Australian ballot, and above this is placed a regular Aus- 
 tralian ballot with strips cut out which otherwise would be 
 occupied by voting squares. The perforations in the lower 
 sheet are in juxtaposition to the names of the candidates and 
 
— 15 — 
 
 blank spaces on the ticket and there are a set of rollers for 
 each column. 
 
 To vote, the voter opens a box and marks upon the tally 
 sheet through the perforation opposite the name printed upon 
 the ticket. To vote independently, a name has to be written 
 upon a special ballot and deposited in a ballot box provided 
 for the purpose. After marking the tally sheet the voter 
 closes the box and thereby moves the tally sheet a voting 
 space out of sight of the next voter. At the close of the polls 
 the tally sheets are taken from the boxes (a number of which 
 are used in each precinct) and the count is made directly of 
 the marks upon them. 
 
 To eliminate illegal votes each tally sheet would have to 
 be inspected and the excess of votes cancelled. Under this 
 system there would be no check upon a voter marking the tally 
 sheet and voting on the special ballot. Any possible gains 
 would be offset by greater disadvantages than at present 
 exist. 
 
 HENRY H. NIEBUR, Ferndale, Cal. 
 
 His system provides for a paper ballot, a ballot holder, a 
 counting machine and a ballot box; the ballot is printed in 
 party columns at right angles to the offices to be filled, with a 
 column of blank spaces in which a voter can write the name 
 of any person not printed on the ballot. To the right of the 
 name of each candidate there is a blank square in which a cross 
 could be stamped in case the other fixtures connected with 
 his system were destroyed. The ballot-holder (a number of 
 which can be in use at once) consists of a hinged frame, the 
 underside of which is perforated to correspond with the voting 
 squares on the ballot and the upper side is provided with re- 
 ceptacles to contain a single metalic ball immediately above 
 such perforations. One end of the ballot is affixed to a 
 spindle and is then placed within the ballot holder so that the 
 voting squares will come between the receptacles for the balls 
 and the perforated spaces below. For every office to be filled 
 there is a column of receptacles which are filled with balls. 
 The ballot thus placed in the ballot holder is given to a voter 
 who takes it to a voting booth and transfers the balls, by 
 
— i6 — 
 
 means of a magnet, to such receptecles as he may desire (in 
 place of stamping the ballot as at present) and he can change 
 the balls from place to place untill he finally leaves them as he 
 desires, thus obviating calling for a new ballot to correct a 
 mistake. The ballot holder which is then covered to conceal 
 the acts of the voter, is handed by the voter to an officer who 
 places it in the Counting Machine. 
 
 This machine is arranged in compartments to hold the 
 balls cast for each candidate. A frame with teeth to enter 
 each voting receptacle in the ballot holder is mechanically 
 pressed down so as to force the balls in the receptacles through 
 the ballot into the compartments below, thus recording the 
 vote cast and making a hole in the ballot in place of stamping 
 it. The ballot is then wound up on the spindle, removed and 
 placed in the ballot box. At the close of the election the con- 
 tents of each compartment in the counting machine are sepa- 
 rately drawn off by the removal of a slide bottom and the con- 
 tents run into a scaled tube which at once shows how many 
 votes were cast for each candidate. The total number of balls 
 cast for each office plus any unused balls should equal the 
 number of voters taking part in the election. If by accident 
 or design more balls should appear, recourse would have to be 
 made to the ballots in the ballot box in order to detect the 
 source of excess. The inventor claims for his system the ad- 
 vantage — " That his machine during an election is always in 
 charge and control of the Board of Election Officers — the voter 
 not having any access or control over it, but voting as now by 
 an Australian ballot." 
 
 A machine constructed upon the above principles to 
 accommodate a fixed number of political parties could not be 
 used in an election, if an additional number of candidates in 
 excess of such provision should be nominated, and the whole 
 system would break down. Evil disposed persons could bring 
 any number of balls into the voting booth and thus destroy 
 the utility of the counting devices. To canvass the indepen- 
 dent vote, all the ballots would have to be opened and ex- 
 amined. Either by accident or design the operation of the 
 ball counting devices could be overcome and resort to canvas- 
 sing the ballots be necessitated. Instead of X's, as under the 
 
— 17 — 
 
 present system, the holes made in the paper by the balls forced 
 through the ballot, would have to be inspected and counted. 
 The complications proposed in this system offer no advantages 
 over the present system. 
 
 C. L. STURGES, Escondido, Cal. 
 
 His system consists of an Australian ballot, a Counting 
 Machine and a Ballot Box. 
 
 To vote, a voter uses a pointed instrument with which to 
 puncture the ballot, instead of stamping an X. The voter 
 then inserts the ballot in the Counting Machine, which per- 
 mits metal balls to pass through the holes made in the ballot 
 and collects them in scaled grooves provided for the purpose. 
 At the close of an election the accumulated balls in each groove 
 disclose the vote cast for each candidate. 
 
 The Counting Machine counts for all holes made in the 
 ballot, so that if a voter should make two or more holes for, 
 say, a Mayor, all would be counted. As a consequence, all 
 the ballots would have to be taken from the ballot box in 
 which they have been deposited after passing through the 
 Counting Machine and be canvassed for the independent vote 
 and for the purpose of eliminating illegal votes. 
 
 The system differs from the present, in substituting holes 
 for X's and the trouble of passing the ballots through a Count- 
 ing Machine without accomplishing a correct count. 
 
 AMERICAN BALLOT COMPANY. 
 
 McTamany Patent, 
 Mass, 
 This system comprises a Voting Machine proper, a 
 Counting Machine and a Ballot-box, and affords a voter the 
 option of voting entirely by machine or by ballot. The 
 Machine, which is arranged for party columns, does not limit 
 the number of candidates for whom a voter can vote, as he 
 can vote upon it for every candidate nominated, but makes it 
 impossible to vote for the same candidate more than once. 
 The Counting Machine is depended upon to cancel the votes 
 
— i8 — 
 
 cast in excess. For example : If a voter should vote for two 
 or more candidates for Mayor none of the votes would count. 
 In case a voter desires to vote indept ndently for any one he 
 has to vote by ballot for all candidates for whom he desires to 
 vote. The results of the two systems are added together and 
 the total vote for each candidate obtained. 
 
 The Voting Machine is operated by push buttons which 
 cut holes in a paper strung between rollers, which moves a 
 given distance for each voter. In case of possession of the 
 poll list and the punched paper, the act of each voter can be 
 determined. The Voting Machine is mechanically well con- 
 structed and simple in operation. The Counting Machine is 
 very complicated and delicate, and would require a watch- 
 maker's skill to repair. 
 
 Under the above system, unless the present ballot system 
 was also maintained, the door would be opened to place 
 prepared ballots in the hands of voters which could afterwards 
 be identified, and the voters would also be obliged to cast 
 their votes under more burdensome conditions than those 
 using the machines. As a consequence, the cost of the 
 machines and their operation would have to be added to the 
 present expenses incident to an election. 
 
 CALIFORNIA VOTING MACHINE COMPANY. 
 Christ Christensen, Patent No. 534,494. 
 
 This machine is operated by turning the exposed end of 
 a screwrod upon which a nut with an index point moves one 
 thread for each complete revolution, and indicates upon an 
 accompanying scale the number of votes given to each candi- 
 date. A rod with gravity sliding blocks limits the time a 
 voter can vote for a single or co-ordinate office, and as the 
 voter leaves the booth these blocks fall together and leave no 
 clue as to how the voter exercised his choice. The act of 
 leaving the booth also completes the revolution of all the 
 screwrods which a voter has partially turned. The voter is 
 thus afforded an opportunity of changing or correcting his 
 votes until he has left the booth. 
 
— 19 — 
 
 For each office or group of offices an attachment for 
 independent voting by ballot is provided, which, if used, 
 prevents the voter from operating any rods for the regularly 
 nominated candidates for that office. Where co-ordinate 
 offices are to be filled, this arrangement necessitates the 
 writing the names of regularly nominated candidates for 
 whom the voter may desire to vote as well as those not nomi- 
 nated — all on one ballot in order to avoid cumulative voting. 
 Such a ballot could readily be identified by an agreed name 
 written upon it and would facilitate fraud in the purchase of 
 votes. As each voter would be entitled to a ballot, however 
 provided or regulated, it can be readily seen that such a 
 ballot could be taken unused from the voting booth and 
 prepared on the outside and given to a subsequent voter, and 
 thus an endless chain of corrupt votes could be controlled. 
 
 To the record of the vote shown by the nuts, the count 
 of the ballot would have to be added before the total vote for 
 each candidate could be known. 
 
 By coupling machines together any number of offices and 
 candidates can be provided for, but in case of an excessive 
 number of candidates for a co-ordinate office, such as the 
 election of 18 Supervisors in San Francisco (which might 
 result in over ioo candidates being nominated) a special 
 machine to be used horizontally and provided with slide blocks 
 operated otherwise than by gravity would have to be con- 
 structed, as a perpendicular machine controlled by gravity 
 slide blocks would be too high for practical use? 
 
 The machine exhibited is mechanically well constructed, 
 simple in design, and difficult, if not impossible, to get out of 
 order. 
 
 UNITED STATES BALLOT BOX. 
 Franklin Grove, Illinois. 
 This system consists of a box enclosing a nest of vertical 
 tubes, so arranged as to receive metal discs dropped into them. 
 Above the tubes is a metal plate in which slots are cut, 
 through which such discs can pass. A second plate composed 
 of metal strips with corresponding slots in them, rests upon 
 the bottom plate, so that the slots in both will admit of a disc 
 
20 
 
 falling through them into the tubes when all are brought 
 together. The slots are so arranged that candidates can be 
 grouped with party columns at right angles to the offices to 
 be filled, and the box can be constructed to accommodate any 
 reasonable number of candidates for an office. The names of 
 candidates need not necessarily appear in party columns. 
 
 In voting, a voter opens the cover to the box and places 
 a disc in a slot opposite the printed name of the candidate for 
 whom he desires to vote, and in so doing forces the metal 
 strip sideways into such a position that a second disc cannot 
 be placed in any other slot in the same strip. The disc, how- 
 ever, can be withdrawn and placed in any slot in the strip as 
 long as the box remains open. 
 
 To vote independently, there is a lid in each metal strip 
 which can be raised provided the voter has not deposited a 
 disc in the same strip, exposing a paper roll upon which he 
 can write the name of a person for whom he desires to vote. 
 The raising of the lid moves the metal strip in the same man- 
 ner as placing a disc, but a lid once raised the metal strip 
 cannot be again moved so that a voter can place a disc in a 
 slot. All the names written by one voter appear in line and 
 cumulative voting can thus be detected if practiced. 
 
 The voter having arranged the discs for the candidates 
 for whom he desires to vote, the lid to the box is closed and 
 a crank is actuated which carries both the metal strips and 
 bottom plate into line over the mouth of the tubes so as to 
 drop the discs into them. A continuation of the movement 
 restores the sliding strips to their normal position, moves the 
 independent roll one voting space, if it has been used, and 
 closes the raised lids so as to obliterate all traces of the acts 
 of the voter. 
 
 At the commencement of an election a flat metal rod is 
 inserted into each tube so as to demonstrate that all are 
 equally empty, and at the close of the election the same 
 process is repeated and the votes cast for each candidate are 
 disclosed by the depth to which the scaled rod will descend. 
 
 In case of co-ordinate officers to be elected at large, it 
 
21 
 
 would be impossible to vote for more than one candidate 
 appearing upon the same strip. To overcome this defect it is 
 proposed to allow the voter to write upon the independent roll 
 the name of a candidate whose name appears printed upon the 
 strip, for whom he cannot insert a disc. This method, how- 
 ever, would also make it possible for a voter to vote for the 
 same candidate twice; i. e., once by disc and once on the roll. 
 
 Unless these difficulties can be overcome this device 
 would be practically useless. 
 
 The mechanism used in this device is very simple and 
 positive and only a tension spring to control the paper roll is 
 used. The cost of construction would consequently be 
 moderate. 
 
 The use of discs preserves in a concrete form the record 
 of each vote cast. In case of dispute the box can be brought 
 into Court for examination and the discs cast for each candi- 
 date be either measured, counted or weighed. In this respect 
 the system differs from those employing registering wheels, 
 where the count is abstracted in the position of the wheels 
 and the individual acts of the voters are obliterated so as not 
 to be subject to review. 
 
 F. X. ST. LOUIS, Elk Creek, California, 
 
 His machine is arranged so as to receive a lineal ballot. 
 Opposite the name of each candidate there is a sliding key, 
 in one end of which is a receptacle for a disc. To vote, a 
 disc with a hole in its center is inserted in the above men- 
 tioned receptacle and the key moved forward so as to draw 
 the disc under a plate and over a vertical rod upon which it 
 drops. A sliding device prevents two or more keys being 
 moved forward at the same time. Teethed wheels in which 
 stops are placed, limit the number of times a voter can vote 
 for either single or co-ordinate offices. A lever controlled by 
 a turn -stile or the officers of an election board, releases the 
 used keys after each voter has occupied the voting booth. The 
 machine can be adjusted to meet the conditions of succeeding 
 elections and can be made to accommodate any number of 
 candidates. To vote independently, one key is reserved in 
 
22 
 
 each gronp of single and co-ordinate offices. For this purpose 
 discs upon which a name can be written are furnished the 
 voters. So far as single offices are concerned this method 
 could be adopted, but for co-ordinate offices various complica- 
 tions arise. Except by experts in hand- writing, no one could 
 tell whether eighteen voters had each voted once for one 
 supervisor or one voter had voted eighteen times for the same 
 person. A machine which might accommodate all the inde- 
 pendent votes for mayor, might prove incapable of holding all 
 the independent votes for eighteen supervisors to be elected at 
 large, as all would have to be dropped on one rod. If eigh- 
 teen rods were provided for voting for independent candidates 
 for supervisors, cumulative voting might be practiced without 
 detection. 
 
 At the close of an election the rods are exposed with the 
 discs which have been dropped upon them and a scale dis- 
 closes the number of votes which each candidate has received. 
 The independent vote has to be canvassed separately. 
 
 So far as the principles involved in this system for voting 
 for regularly nominated candidates are concerned, they could 
 be carried out with mechanical accuracy. A voter can see 
 that his disc drops upon the rod in line with the candidate for 
 whom he is voting, and before moving the sliding key, he can 
 change or correct his vote. 
 
 HENRY WEBER. Patent No. 531,818. 
 Temescal, California. 
 
 This Voting Machine is designed to receive a lineal 
 ballot. Opposite the names and blank spaces are receptacles 
 in which discs can be placed for those candidates who are 
 selected by a voter. Such discs can be re-arranged until the 
 voter has prepared his vote to his satisfaction. Slide-blocks 
 limit the number of times a voter can vote for single or co- 
 ordinate offices and these can be adjusted to meet the require- 
 ment of succeeding elections. 
 
 To vote independently, the voter is permitted- to write a 
 name upon a disc. For the purpose of casting his vote, the 
 voter removes a block which operates to cover the receptacles 
 
— 23 — 
 
 for discs and permits those in position to fall into scaled 
 tubes. 
 
 Until the machine is adjusted to receive another voter, no 
 more votes can be cast. At the close of an election the num- 
 ber of discs in each tube discloses the number of votes cast 
 for each candidate. 
 
 Counting by this device could be accomplished with cer- 
 tainty. The arrangement for independent voting is defective 
 as cumulative voting could be practiced and escape detection. 
 The position of the slideblocks, as left by each voter, would 
 indicate how such votes had been cast. 
 
 S. A. CUMRINE, Los Angeles, California. 
 
 This system consists of a line of voting keys set opposite 
 the names of candidates. To vote, a voter turns a key a 
 quarter turn, which actuates a toothed disc one tooth and 
 cannot be further moved until a releasing bar in charge of 
 the Election Board prepares the way for a subsequent voter. 
 In case of single offices the movement of one key locks all the 
 others for the same office, but for co-ordinate offices where, 
 say, two out of four candidates are to be elected, each voter 
 could vote all the four keys unless prevented by the Election 
 Board, who would have to keep tally by ear as each key was 
 operated. The system contemplates separate machines for 
 each office or group of offices to be filled. For independent 
 voting, keys in excess of those to be used for regularly nom- 
 inated candidates are provided with a blank space opposite 
 in which a voter can write the name of a person for whom he 
 desires to vote. In practice, three candidates for mayor might 
 be regularly nominated and keys provided for them, but to 
 accommodate a possible independent vote, ten, twenty, fifty 
 or more keys and blank spaces would have to be provided, as 
 no one could determine in advance how many independent 
 votes might be cast. 
 
 At the commencement of an election all the discs should 
 be found at zero, and at its close the number of votes cast for 
 each candidate could be read off without difficulty. 
 
— 24 — 
 
 STANDARD VOTING MACHINE COMPANY. 
 
 Gillespie Patent. 
 New York. 
 
 This machine is arranged with eight perpendicular party 
 columns and a column for independent voting, at right angles 
 to the offices to be filled. In addition there are placed at the 
 foot of the machines eight spaces for the submission of ques- 
 tions, constitutional amendments, etc., for which a key can 
 be placed in position to vote yes or no. A system of inter- 
 locking wedges limits the times a voter can vote for a single 
 or co-ordinate office, and the machine can be adjusted to 
 meet the conditions of succeeding elections to the extent of a 
 full list of nominations by eight parties. The mechanical 
 principles involved in the interlocking system do not advan- 
 tageously permit of an increase in the party columns, but the 
 number of offices to be filled can be increased in the construc- 
 tion of the machine to meet the requirements of any election. 
 A perpendicular paper roll to the right of the party column 
 affords an opportunity to write a name not printed in the 
 party column, by moving a slide over the paper, but a slide 
 once opened prevents a voter moving any of the voting keys 
 in the same line. As the perpendicular roll moves forward 
 but once for each voter using it, any attempt at cumulative 
 voting can be detected. 
 
 The machine permits of the grouping of eighteen super- 
 visors to be elected at large and can, therefore, accommodate 
 the names of 144 candidates and eighteen spaces in which the 
 names of those not nominated can be written. The inter- 
 locking system and a special device will prevent a voter plac- 
 ing more than eighteen keys in position for voting. The 
 voter can select his candidates at will, unless he chooses to 
 vote for a line of candidates running across the bottom of the 
 group so as to vote for several from each political party. In 
 this case the angles of the interlocking wedges do not permit 
 all the keys being placed in position for voting, and also pre- 
 vent a free choice of candidates above the bottom line. if 
 certain keys were used it would be impossible to vote for a 
 certain 79 out of the 144 candidates. To the left of the 
 names of the various candidates is a column of voting keys, 
 which in the act of arranging his ticket, a voter moves at an 
 
— 25 — 
 
 angle over the name of the candidate of his choice. All the 
 keys in one column can be moved into position by the use of 
 a lever at the top, but after using such lever, if a voter 
 desires to split his ticket he can move back any or all of the 
 keys singly and move a key in any other column over the 
 name he wishes to vote for or vote on the independent 
 roll. 
 
 Upon entering the voting stand the voter moves a lever 
 from left to right, which carries a curtain in a semi-circle in 
 front of the machine and encloses him in the booth. He can 
 then arrange and re-arrange in secret the voting keys for the 
 candidates of his choice, which being accomplished, he 
 returns the curtain lever to its original position and in so 
 doing registers his vote, and the movement of the leve r 
 restores the voting keys to their normal position and closes 
 the slides over the independent voting roll. When not in 
 possession of a voter, the face of the machine is exposed to 
 view of all present and any tampering with it can be readily 
 preceived and the blame be promptly placed. At the com- 
 mencement of an election the registers in the back of the 
 machine are exposed for inspection and all should be found 
 at zero. The rear doors are then locked and cannot be 
 opened while the voting keys can be moved. At the close of 
 the election the voting keys are locked, the rear doors opened 
 and the registers show the number of votes cast for each 
 candidate. The independent roll has to be canvassed sepa- 
 rately. 
 
 The use of voting levers (which can either be retained or 
 discarded) at the top of each party column expedites voting 
 without limiting the number of offices for which a voter can 
 vote, nor confining his choice to party candidates, and would 
 enable a greater number of voters to use a machine in an 
 election than if each voting key had to be separately placed 
 in position. The question naturally arises whether the use of 
 such levers would conflict with the decision of the Supreme 
 Court in Eaton vs. Brown. 
 
 The printing of the names of regularly nominated candi- 
 dates upon the ballot, as now provided by law, saves time and 
 effort and enables the class of voters who place an X opposite 
 
— 26 — 
 
 such printed names an advantage over those who are obliged 
 to write the names of those for whom they desire to vote and 
 the principle of "more burdensome conditions" is not carried 
 to reductio ad absurdum. A corresponding practical con- 
 struction of the law would doubtless permit of the use of a 
 lever for the purpose of facilitating the arrangement of the 
 keys for voting. 
 
 This machine is thoroughly adapted for an election in 
 which the number of candidates for a single office does not 
 exceed eight and for co-ordinate offices forty (five only to be 
 elected), but any increase in the number of candidates for a 
 single office or for a group in excess of five to be elected for 
 co-ordinate offices, is beyond the mechanical limits of the 
 interlocking mechanism of the machine. These difficulties 
 can only be overcome by the adoption of a new interlocking 
 device or by a law raising the percentage required for a posi- 
 tion upon the ballot and limiting the number of officers to be 
 elected at large to five. 
 
 The machine is finely constructed and is easily adjusted 
 to meet the requirements of succeeding elections ; all the 
 movements are positive and only a tension spring for the paper 
 roll is used. In operation any voter is capable of compre- 
 hending it and can adjust the voting keys with ease and 
 rapidity. Up to its capacity elections would be conducted 
 with it at an economy in cost and certainty in correct results. 
 
 NATIONAL VOTING MACHINE. 
 
 Markee Patent. 
 
 This machine is arranged in sections which are set one 
 upon the top of another. Each section is complete in itself 
 and can be coupled with others for the purpose of releasing 
 knobs which have been used in voting. The face of each 
 section exposes a line of voting knobs so arranged that each 
 can be used for voting for a single office or combined for vot- 
 ing for a single and for co-ordinate offices, so that any number 
 of candidates can be accommodated. The knobs, to each of 
 which a ridged pointer is attached, are placed in the center of 
 a slotted receptacle, and from each slot a space radiates in 
 
— 27 — 
 
 which the name of a candidate can be placed, with or without 
 a party designation. In the machine exhibited eight such 
 radiating spaces appear, but their number could be increased." 
 For independent voting there is an opening in the top space 
 over each knob and all these openings are in line. Separate 
 rolls of paper pass before such openings, but all are attached 
 to a common shaft and move forward once whenever a voter 
 elects to write the name of one or more persons whose names 
 are not regularly printed, so that cumulative voting cannot be 
 accomplished without detection. 
 
 In order to vote the voter turns a knob so as to bring the 
 pointer opposite the slot and space on which the name of the 
 candidate appears for whom he desires to vote and then pushes 
 the knob inward. A knob thus pushed cannot be withdrawn, 
 but at once actuates the register counters and completes the 
 act of voting. A mistake in placing the voting pointer into 
 a slot cannot, consequently, be recalled and corrected. The 
 vote for each office is a repetition of the above described 
 method. When the knob is pushed inward against the inde- 
 pendent space a slide opens and exposes the paper roll, which 
 at all other times is covered. After a voter lsaves the voting 
 booth a lever, which can be operated by turnstile or the elec- 
 tion officers, throws all the used knobs outward, dropping the 
 pointer into its normal position and closing all the slides 
 which have been opened for independent voting. At the 
 beginning of an election all the registers, which are exposed 
 upon the back of the machine, should be found at zero, and 
 upon opening the machine at the close of the election, such 
 registers will show the vote cast for each candidate. 
 
 For the purpose of releasing and returning the voting 
 knobs to their normal position a shaft extends the length of 
 each section, which could be reached by an opening made 
 and concealed in the outside casing. By means of a wire 
 reaching the shaft through such opening, a reciprocal action 
 could be set up which would permit of a voter voting for one 
 candidate an unlimited number of times. While such a fraud 
 might be known by the general result, it could not be located 
 even though the opening in the casing was found, as the shaft 
 operates all knobs alike. This defect could probably be over- 
 
— 28 — 
 
 come by some device which would retain the releasing bar in 
 a fixed position while a voter was in the voting booth, but as 
 the machine is now designed it could be pumped in the man- 
 ner indicated. 
 
 In the case of presidential electors this machine affords 
 the voter the option of voting for a straight party group by 
 one movement, or of voting for such candidates separately, 
 and the interlocking device will not permit of both methods 
 being used by the same voter. This method involves the 
 adding together of the straight party vote and the votes cast 
 for candidates separately in order to obtain the total cast for 
 each. It enables, however, a greater number of voters to use 
 the machine in a given precinct and in consequence is eco- 
 nomical in the number of machines required for an election 
 and the number of election officers to be employed. 
 
 J. C. GARREET. 
 San Francisco, Cal. 
 Presented an incompleted model of a Voting Machine, 
 but as the device was only partially disclosed it is impossible 
 to give a satisfactory description of it. 
 
 H. A. CLIFFORD. 
 San Francisco, Cal. 
 This device consists of a bank of numbered voting keys 
 placed above an Australian ballot. To vote, a voter pushes 
 inward a key corresponding to the number placed opposite the 
 name of a candidate on the ballot, thereby locking the 
 mechanism so that another vote for the same office cannot be 
 cast. For co-ordinate offices the machine can be adjusted for 
 any number of candidates. To vote independently, the voter 
 pushes a key for a blank space and thereby raises a lid upon 
 which he can write the name of a candidate whose name does 
 not appear upon the ballot. A double system of recording 
 the vote is provided by the use of a paper roll and registering 
 wheels. The push keys are connected with double arms, one 
 of which punches the paper roll, which serves as a tally sheet, 
 
— 29 — 
 
 and the other actuates registering wheels. All movements 
 are positive. 
 
 The interlocking device consists of a series of wedges 
 passing between hanging rods which permit of a free passage 
 until the limit of candidates to be voted for single or co-ordi- 
 nate offices has been reached. The interlocking device of the 
 machine exhibited permits of twelve candidates to be elected 
 at large to be chosen out of fifty. A special device will 
 permit of only a portion of the offices to be filled to be voted 
 for in case such an arrangement is desired. This machine 
 provides for cumulative voting as allowed in some states. 
 
 ELLIS BALLOT MACHINE COMPANY. 
 Livermore, Cal. 
 
 In this machine a ballot arranged the same as the present 
 one would be if the names of all the candidates were printed 
 in one column, is placed opposite a row of voting keys 
 which extend the length of the machine. The ballot is folded 
 so as to expose to the voter the names of the candidates and 
 blank spaces for independent voting. The reverse side of 
 the folded ballot, which is reserved in columns of hundreds, 
 tens and units, for the result of the election to be printed 
 thereon, is placed over registering wheels which are in line 
 with the push keys. The names of the candidates and the 
 blank spaces on the ballot are thus placed immediately above 
 the registering wheels, which are actuated by the voting key 
 opposite such names and blank spaces. 
 
 By a system of gravity balls placed in double rows the 
 number of times a voter can push down the keys to vote for 
 single and co-ordinate offices is limited to his legal right and 
 can readily be adjusted to meet the conditions of succeeding 
 elections. While in the voting booth, a voter, by pulling up 
 a depressed key, can correct or change his vote as often as he 
 chooses, and is not confined to any fixed order of voting, but 
 can choose or change his candidates at will. 
 
 For independent voting a paper roll extends the length of 
 the machine and passes over a supporting table. By pushing 
 down a key opposite the blank for independent voting, a lid is 
 
raised over the paper roll, upon which a voter can write the 
 name of the person for whom he desires to vote. A lid once 
 raised its key cannot be returned to its normal condition until 
 the voter leaves the voting booth, nor will pushing down 
 other independent keys by the same voter advance the voting 
 roll. If a voter writes the same name more than once such 
 names will appear in line and detect his act the same as if the 
 present ballot was used. A voter can thus vote for such 
 regularly nominated candidates as he may choose, and vote 
 for anyone he may desire not nominated until his limit of 
 voting is exhausted. 
 
 Upon the voter leaving the voting booth, the independent 
 roll, if it has been used, is moved forward one voting space, 
 the independent lids close and the depressed keys are released 
 and resume their normal position, thus removing all trace of 
 the acts of the voter. At the same time the registering 
 wheels, which at all other times are securely locked, are 
 moved forward for such keys as have been left pushed down 
 by the voter and his vote thereby registered. 
 
 At the opening of the polls a regularly prepared ballot, 
 such as is to be used in the election, is inserted in the 
 machine, the lid closed and locked and an impress of the 
 registering wheel printed upon the ballot. This impress 
 should show that all the registering wheels are placed at zero. 
 The ballot for the election is then inserted and is protected 
 during the election by a transparent covering. At the close 
 of the election the lid of the machine is again closed, an 
 imprint taken upon the actual ballot used, showing the 
 changed position of the registering wheels which have 
 recorded the acts of the voters and consequently the result of 
 the election so far as the votes for regularly nominated candi- 
 dates are concerned. 
 
 By opening the lids over the independent or scattering 
 vote and turning the roll backward, such votes can be can- 
 vassed without removing the roll from the machine, and the 
 total of such scattering votes cannot exceed the numbe r 
 indicated by the imprints on the ballot opposite each voting 
 space. A turn-stile, provided with a conspicuous moving 
 arm and a gong bell, unlocks and locks the Voting Machine 
 as each voter enters and leaves the voting booth, so that 
 
— 3i — 
 
 without the knowledge of all present it would be impossible 
 for a voter to vote more than once or for a vote to fail _pf 
 being registered. 
 
 Sections of this machine, which can be made of 50, 75 
 or 100 keys, can be coupled together so as to accommodate as 
 many parties and candidates as may be desired. 
 
 This device meets many of the requirements of a practical 
 Voting Machine, and complies with all the provisions of the 
 Election Laws of this State, save the option of voting for a 
 group of Presidential electors instead of voting for such can- 
 didates separately. 
 
 CHRIST CHRISTENSEN, Oakland, Cal. 
 
 This machine is enclosed in a narrow upright box. In 
 order to vote, a voter passes to one side of the box, which is 
 placed in full view of all present, and raises a cover which is 
 hinged together, so that when the cover is raised it acts as a 
 screen. The machine is then operated by the voter raising a 
 screw-rod and inserting a resting-arm attached thereto within 
 a notch of a slide-bar which extends the length of the machine. 
 Upon the screw-rod (which is numbered upon the rod for each 
 half-turn) there is a movable nut (protected by a guide rod) 
 which moves upon the screw-rod as the latter is turned. The 
 names of the various candidates to be voted for appear in 
 groups the same as if the existing ballot was printed in one 
 column and these groups can be so changed as to meet the 
 requirements of succeeding elections. This lineal ballot is 
 placed upon the top of the machine so that the name of each 
 candidate and the spaces for independent voting appear oppo- 
 site the handle to a screw-rod. A system of rollers and 
 wedges at the bottom of the screw-rods limits the number of 
 screw-rods which can be raised by each voter and the times a 
 voter can vote for a single or co-ordinate office. The same 
 device permits the voter to correct or change his vote as often 
 and as long as he remains in the voting booth, and he is not 
 confined to any fixed order of voting but chooses his candi- 
 dates at will. 
 
— 32 — 
 
 For independent voting a paper roll feeding from one to 
 a second roller extends the length of the machine and passes 
 over a fixed table. This table is covered by arms which can 
 be attached to each screw-rod, but for an election only those 
 arms are attached to the screw -rod which are reserved for in- 
 dependent voting. To vote independently, the voter raises 
 the screw-rod and inserts the resting-arm within the notch of 
 the slide-bar, thereby lifting the arm over the fixed table and 
 exposing a space upon the paper roll upon which he can write 
 the name of anyone not printed upon the ballot for whom he 
 desires to vote. In this operation the paper roll is moved but 
 once, no matter how many times the voter may write the 
 names of independent candidates, and as a consequence all 
 the independent votes of any one voter must appear in 
 line upon the paper roll. This cannot prevent cumulative 
 voting, but detects it in the same manner as the present ballot 
 does, and while it discloses the act of a voter it does not iden- 
 tify him. The voter can thus exercise the limit to which he 
 is entitled by raising the screw-rods and voting for candidates 
 regularly nominated and those of his own choice and is only 
 called upon to write the names of the latter. After once rais- 
 ing the screw-rod for an independent vote the rod cannot be 
 replaced by the voter in its original position, as otherwise he 
 could write upon the roll and afterwards vote for regularly 
 nominated candidates the full number of times permitted.' 
 After the voter has arranged the screw-rods in the notches in 
 the sliding-bar, he closes the cover to the box and thereby 
 moves a cam operating the sliding-bar, which moves all the 
 resting arms forward until they are released and fall back by 
 gravitation into their normal position, thus completing the 
 half revolution of the screw-rods for independent as well as 
 regular candidates, and forcing the nut to register the vote 
 given and removing all traces of the acts of the voter. The 
 cover to the box cannot be closed until all these operations 
 have taken place. Any attempt on the part of a voter to 
 open the cover a second time to repeat his vote would be ap- 
 parent to all present and such attempt should open the doors 
 of the penitentiary to him. 
 
 At the commencement of an election the machine can be 
 opened so that spectators can see that all the nuts are placed 
 
— 33 — 
 
 at zero in the machine and at its close the result can be read 
 from the rods as shown by the position of the nuts. The in- 
 dependent vote can be canvassed without removing the paper 
 roll from the machine as it can be turned back space by space 
 and the names read off through an opening provided for the 
 purpose. During an election the only parts of the machine 
 which could be tampered with (which are the resting-arms 
 and slide-bar) are exposed to view by means of a glass cover 
 ing, and any possible injury to them could be seen by every 
 voter. The movement of the nut upon the screw-rod is abso- 
 lutely positive and the nut cannot be moved a half turn unless 
 it has been operated by the act of a voter — the numbers 
 appearing upon the screw-rod itself, in the same manner as 
 upon the balance arm of a weighing scale, does not permit 
 any tampering with or manipulation, and as the movement of 
 the operating cam only permits of a forward motion when the 
 resting arms are in the notch of the slide-bar, a vote once 
 registered cannot beset back and cancelled. In these respects 
 the design is unimpeachable. 
 
 Machines in sections of 50, 75 or 100 keys can be coupled 
 together so as to accommodate any number of parties and candi- 
 dates. One hundred or more candidates can be grouped to- 
 gether for single or co-ordinate offices and the mechanism does 
 not limit the number of co-ordinate offices to be filled. Thus, 
 the voter could select one candidate out of a hundred for 
 Mayor and eighteen out of any hundred candidates for Super- 
 visor to be elected at large. 
 
 By the use of a special device a straight party group of 
 presidential electors can be voted for on one rod, so as to 
 afford a voter the option of voting for such group by one rod 
 or of voting for the same or other candidates separately, and 
 the interlocking device will prevent the use of both methods 
 by the same voter. 
 
 If this method of voting for a straight party group to fill 
 co-ordinate positions could be lawfully extended so as to per- 
 mit a voter to vote, say, for eighteen supervisors to be elected 
 at large, the interlocking device of this machine could be ad- 
 justed to meet the requirement. This would facilitate rapi- 
 dity in voting and a far greater number of voters could use 
 a machine than if each candidate had to be selected and voted 
 for separately. 
 
— 34 — 
 
 This group method would involve the adding together of 
 the straight party vote to those cast separately. 
 
 A screw-rod is mechanically equivalent to a pile of con- 
 nected discs and the passage of a nut upon it accomplishes the 
 same purpose as placing one disc upon another. Hence, the 
 recording mechanism in this machine combines both the con- 
 crete and abstract features which distinguished the disc and 
 registering wheel machines. 
 
 This machine meets all the requirements of a practical 
 voting machine, and complies with all the provisions of the 
 Election Laws of this state. 
 
 It has been our purpose in examining machines to study 
 the principles rather than the execution of the devices, as 
 most of the machines presented have been imperfectly con- 
 structed. In a machine manufactured for practical use, many 
 existing miner faults could and would be corrected. The 
 ' * McTammany ' ' and "Standard" machines illustrate how 
 well machines can be manufactured. Of the hand-made ma- 
 chines, the \ 4 National," the " Ellis "and the " Christensen'' 
 are the only ones which have been made upon a scale to 
 admit of practical tests. In general principles they are some- 
 what alike, though the mechanical devices are entirely differ- 
 ent, and each possess advantages which have already been 
 mentioned. The " Ellis" is the most compact and the 
 1 ' Christensen ' ' the strongest and least complicated. 
 
 It was the intention of the commission to give public 
 exhibitions of the practical workings of Voting Machines 
 submitted to us for examination and testing, but we have to 
 regret that delays upon the part of inventors in completing 
 their machines has rendered it impossible for us to make such 
 tests in public. 
 
 Whatever machines may be adopted, it will be necessary 
 to enact laws guarding them against being marked, defaced 
 or injured and to prevent the use of devices to disclose the 
 acts of a voter who might be placed in the voting line 
 between two conspirators. To guard against such practices 
 the booths should be arranged so as to expose the voting keys 
 to public view before each voter proceeds to vote. 
 
— 35 — 
 
 As previously stated, the " McTammany " and " Stand- 
 ard M are the only factory-made machines, all the others hav^ 
 ing been made by hand and exhibit variation in workmanship 
 from crude models in wood to finished products in metal. As 
 a consequence it is difficult to make an estimate of the proba- 
 ble cost of one or more of such machines. The price for 
 factory-made machines would doubtless range from two 
 hundred and fifty to five hundred dollars. 
 
 An important factor in the economy of voting by ma- 
 chines is the number of voters who can use a machine during 
 an election, Machines which require each key to be sepa- 
 rately moved cannot accommodate as many voters as those 
 which place a party group into position for voting by one 
 movement. At the last election held in Rochester, N. Y . , on 
 November 8th, 1898, seventy-three "Standard" Voting Ma- 
 chines were used, sixty-two candidates were in nomination, 
 thirtern positions were voted for and an average of four hun- 
 dred and thirty-one voters used a machine in each precinct. 
 Complete returns were received at a central station thirty- 
 seven minutes after the close of the polls. Under the newly 
 adopted charter of San Francisco, thirty -two positions will 
 have to be voted for at each election, and as under the exist- 
 ing law each candidate must be voted for separately, the num- 
 ber of voters who can use a machine in a precinct will be less 
 than the average in the late election in Rochester. 
 
 By the use of machines the cost of conducting an elec- 
 tion would be reduced by the expense for ballots and the 
 lessened number of election officers employed. Doubtless it 
 would prove advisable to retain an inspector, a judge, two 
 register clerks and two poll list clerks. As their services 
 would be required for only a short time after the close of the 
 polls, a reduction in the amount now paid them could be 
 made — thus : in San Francisco where twelve election officers 
 are employed in each precinct at a cost of ten dollars each, 
 the savings in expenses for officers, ballots, tally-sheets, etc., 
 would soon cover the cost of machines. 
 
 The moral gain in the avoidance of mistakes and the cer- 
 tainty of the count would prove of inestimable value, and 
 would far outweigh all minor considerations. 
 
 W, M. HINTON, 
 C. B. MORGAN, 
 J. V. WEBSTER. 
 
APPENDICES 
 
— 39 
 
 APPENDIX "A." 
 
 An act to create a commission for the purpose of examin- 
 ing, testing and investigating Voting Machines, and reporting 
 to the Legislature at its thirty-third session the result of such 
 investigation, and making an appropriation for the expenses 
 of such commission. 
 
 (Approved March 27. 1897.) 
 
 The People of the State of California, represented in 
 Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : 
 
 Section i. A special commission of three persons is 
 hereby created for the purpose of examining, investigating 
 and testing Voting Machines, and reporting the result of such 
 examination, investigation and test, together with the opinion 
 of such commission, and its recommendations, to the Legisla- 
 ture at its thirty- third session. Such commission shall con- 
 sist of three persons, who shall not be members of the same 
 political party, to be appointed by the Governor. The Gov- 
 ernor shall issue a commission to each of the three commis- 
 sioners. 
 
 Sec. 2. Such commissioners shall receive no salary for 
 the performance of their official duties. Immediately after 
 such commissioners shall have been appointed, or elected, and 
 commissioned, they shall meet together, and organize, for the 
 performance of the duties for which they were appointed or 
 elected. They shall examine and investigate all Voting Ma- 
 chines offered for such examination, or investigation, and 
 shall use all reasonable efforts to secure a personal examina- 
 tion of the largest possible number of such Voting Machines. 
 They shall endeavor to ascertain the names and residences of 
 the patentees, owners, or proprietors, of all such Voting Ma- 
 chines, and by correspondence, or by advertisement, notify 
 them of the appointment of such a commission, its powers 
 and duties, and that they will examine such machine or ma- 
 chines, at such time, and at such place, as they shall therein 
 specify . 
 
— 40 — 
 
 Sec. 3. They shall be allowed to employ a clerk at a cost 
 not to exceed six hundred dollars, and may incur such other ex- 
 penses as shall be necessary, which, together with the expense 
 for such clerk, shall not aggregate more than one thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 Sec. 4. Thirty days before the meeting of the Legisla- 
 ture at its thirty-third session, such commission shall forward 
 to each member of such Legislature entitled to sit at such 
 session, a copy of its report. Such report shall contain the 
 results of their investigation and examination; their opinion 
 upon each machine tested; its applicability to our present 
 elective system, and its possible defects. Such commission 
 shall also in such report make such estimate as may be 
 possible and they deem proper of the probable cost of one or 
 more of such machines, and the saving, if any, which such 
 purchase would effect over our present system of voting. 
 
 Sec. 5. The sum of one thousand dollars is hereby 
 appropriated out of any moneys in the state treasury not 
 otherwise appropriated, for the purposes of this act, to be ex- 
 pended by such commission, as herein provided. All claims 
 against this appropriation must be presented to, and allowed 
 by the State Board of Examiners. 
 
 Sec. 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 APPENDIX "B". 
 
 Oakland, Cal., July 3, 1897. 
 Hon. Wm. F. Fitzgerald, 
 
 Attorney-General of California, 
 
 San Francisco. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 As a member and as acting secretary of the commission 
 created by act of the last Legislature of California for the pur- 
 pose of examining, testing and investigating Voting Machines, 
 and under authority of a resolution passed at the last regular 
 meeting of the commission, I write to you in your official 
 capacity to learn your interpretation of the entire act, and 
 more especially of the following portion, viz : ' 'its applicability 
 to our present elective system and its possible defects. ' ' Some 
 
— 4i — 
 
 of the machines offered for our inspection are apparently very- 
 perfect and highly successful in operation, and meet all the re- 
 quirements of the election laws, excepting only that part of 
 Sec. 1196, Pol. Code of California, reading as fallows: viz: 
 "Nothing in this Code contained shall prevent any voter from 
 writing upon his ballot the name of any person for whom he 
 desires to vote for any office, and such vote shall be counted 
 the same as if printed upon the ballot, and marked as voted 
 for." Is this a mere legislative enactment, or is it also a 
 necessity under the constitution ? 
 
 Is our commission bound by the existing law, or can we 
 recommend changes that seem to us wise and advisable ? 
 
 Trusting that you will render us your valuable opinion as 
 to these matters, I am, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 (Signed) C. B. Morgan, Sec'y. 
 
 California Voting Machine Commission. 
 
 APPENDIX U B". 
 
 REPLY TO FOREGOING, 
 
 Attorney-General's Office ) 
 State of California. j 
 
 W. F. Fitzgerald, Attorney-General. 
 
 San Francisco, July 7, 1897. 
 
 California Voting Machine Commission, 
 
 Room 507 Central Bank Building, Oakland, Cal. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I am in receipt of your favor of the 3rd inst. in which you 
 request my "interpretation" of "An Actto create a commission 
 for the purpose of examining, testing and investigating Voting 
 Machines, " etc,, ' 'and more especially to the following por- 
 tions, viz: "its applicability to our present elective system and 
 its possible defects. ' ' 
 
 The act in question (Stats. 1897, 222-223) creates a com- 
 mission "for the purpose of examining, investigating and 
 
— 4 2 — 
 
 testing Voting Machines, and reporting the result of such ex- 
 amination, investigation and test, together with the opinion of 
 such commission and its recommendations to the Legislature 
 at its thirty- third session." 
 
 (SBC. i, Stats. 1897, 222). By section 2 of the Act it is 
 provided that the commission "shall examine and investigate 
 #// Voting Machines offered for such examination, or investi- 
 gation, and shall use all reasonable efforts to secure a per- 
 sonal examination of the largest possible number of such 
 Voting Machines." Section 4 of the Act relates to the report 
 of the commission, and contains the following provisions, in 
 which occurs the phrase upon which you particularly request 
 my opinion : 
 
 1 ' Such report shall contain the results of their investiga- 
 tion and examination ; their opinion upon each machine 
 tested ; its applicability to our present elective system, and its 
 possible defects. Such commission shall also in such report 
 make such estimates as may be possible and they may deem 
 proper of the probable cost of one or more of such machines t 
 and the saving, if any, which such purchase would effect over 
 our present system of voting. ' ' 
 
 In reply to your question : "Is our commission bound 
 by the existing law, or can we recommend changes that seem 
 to us wise and advisable ? " I am of the opinion that it was 
 the purpose of the Legislature in framing the Act creating 
 your commission to obtain, through you, all the information 
 possible concerning Voting Machines, their feasibility, cost 
 and cost of operation, etc. ; and that it is the duty of your 
 commission to examine all machines presented to you for ex- 
 amination or that you can obtain the privilege of examining 
 and to report fully to the Legislature upon each machine so 
 examined, its merits and its defects, and its applicability or 
 non-applicability to our existing laws governing elections ; 
 and I am further of the opinion that you are not in any way 
 restricted by the Act in the matter of recommendations ; but 
 that you were expressly created for ' ' the purpose of examin- 
 ing, investigating and testing Voting Machines, and reporting 
 the result of such examination, investigation and test, to- 
 gether with your 'opinion' and your 'recommendations,' 
 to the Legislature at the thirty- third session." The Legisla- 
 
— 43 — 
 
 ture desires the fullest information for its guidance in consid - 
 ering its feasibility of adopting Voting Machines, and one im- 
 portant element of such information is the change which J_t 
 will be necessary to make in our present elective system should 
 such machines be adopted. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 (Signed) W. F. Fitzgerald, 
 
 Attorney- General. 
 
 REPLY TO THE ABOVE. 
 
 Oakland, Cal., July 10, 1897. 
 Hon. W. F. Fitzgerald, 
 
 Attorney-General of California, 
 
 San Francisco. 
 Dear Sir: — Your reply of July 7th to our letter of the 
 3d inst. is received, and its contents are carefully noted. 
 The question which we wish to have solved is "whether a 
 voter has a constitutional right to vote independently, i. e., 
 for a person who has received no nomination by any political 
 party; or whether such right exists by virtue of a mere 
 Legislative enactment ? ' ' 
 
 To construct a Voting Machine which would register an 
 independent vote, would add much to its complication and 
 expense, and lessen many advantages. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 (Signed) C. B. Morgan, Secretary. 
 
 California Voting Machine Commission. 
 
 REPLY TO ABOVE. 
 
 San Francisco, July 30, 1897. 
 California Voting Machine Commission, 
 
 Central Bank Building, Oakland, Cal. 
 Gentlemen: — I am in receipt of your favor of the 10th 
 inst. in which you ask, " whether a voter has a constitutional 
 right to vote independently, i. e., for a person who has received 
 
— 44 — 
 
 no nomination by any political party; or whether such right 
 exists by virtue of a mere Legislative enactment ? ' ' 
 
 This is an extremely delicate constitutional question and 
 one which is not necessary for me at this time to pass upon, 
 as an opinion thereon by me would serve no practical purpose. 
 All that is required of you, under the Act, creating your 
 Commission, is to examine Voting Machines and to report to 
 the Legislature their feasibility, and their adaptability or 
 inadaptability to the existing laws concerning the elective 
 franchise, their cost, etc., accompanying your report with 
 such recommendations as you may see fit to make. If you 
 have any doubts as to the constitutionality of any changes in 
 the law which you may recommend to meet the exigencies of 
 either or any of the machines reported upon you can so state; 
 and it will be for the Legislature to determine whether or not* 
 in view of the constitutional questions involved, it will adopt 
 such recommendations. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 (Signed) W. F. Fitzgerald, 
 
 Attorney-General. 
 
 APPENDIX "C." 
 Article II. Section 1210. 
 
 The County Clerk of each County, or, in case of separate 
 city or town elections, the clerk or secretary of the Legislative 
 body of such city or town, shall cause to be printed, on plain 
 white paper, without water mark or endorsements (except the 
 words «' Sample Ballot "), at least as many copies of the form 
 of ballot provided for use in each voting precinct as there 
 shall be registered voters in such precinct. Such copy shall 
 be designated ''Sample Ballot," and shall be furnished to 
 registered voters at the office of such clerk or secretary five 
 days before the day fixed by law for such election, and at any 
 time during such five days ; provided, that not more than one 
 sample ballot shall be furnished to any one voter. Such clerk 
 or secretary shall cause to be printed, in large clear type, on 
 cards, instructions for the guidance of electors in obtaining 
 
— 45 — 
 
 and marking their ballots. He shall furnish twelve such 
 cards to the Board of Election in each election precinct in his 
 county, at the same time and in the same manner as the 
 printed ballots and sample ballots. The Board of Election 
 shall post at least one of such cards in each booth or com- 
 partment, provided for the preparation of ballots, and not less 
 than three of such cards at other places in and about the 
 polling-place, on the day of election. Sections 12 14 and 1215 
 of this Code and Section 61 of the Penal Code, shall also be 
 printed on each of said cards. 
 
 [RA 
 
 OF 
 
 UNIVERSITY