Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/16

Rh South Carolina and in North Carolina, except for the period from 1760 to 1776, the ballot was used.

The viva voce system was introduced early in the history of Virginia, and is implied in the phrase “major part of voices” used in 1624 and in 1646 this method was made compulsory. In 1785 it was provided by law that if the election could not be determined by the view, the poll should be taken. The sheriff obtained a sufficient number of writers, who were put under oath to take the poll impartially. The sheriff delivered a poll-book to each writer, who, by drawing lines, divided the book into as many columns as there were candidates. The name of each candidate was written at the head of a column, and under his name in the same column, the names of the electors voting for him.

In The End of An Era, J. S. Wise gives a picture of the viva voce scheme in operation:

This method of voting was entirely public, and, even to a greater extent than the unofficial ballot, opened the way to bribery and intimidation. Its use was abandoned by North Carolina in 1776, Maryland and Georgia in 1799, Arkansas in 1846, Missouri in 1863, Virginia in 1867, and Kentucky in 1890. In the other southern states the viva voce method of voting was not used.