Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/17

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The viva voce method was at first introduced into the Northwest Territory. The opportunities that it gave for intimidation soon caused its repeal. Governor St. Clair in 1800, in an address to the legislature, spoke of the fact that creditors were using their power over debtors to make them vote for certain candidates on promises of extending the time for payment. He recommended the substitution of the ballot in place of the viva voce method. On December 9 of the same year the territorial legislature enacted that in all elections the manner of voting should be by ballot. Each of the north central states, except Illinois, on its admission into the Union provided in its constitution that all elections should be by ballot.

In the western group of states the ballot was generally adopted. Texas and Oregon, in fact, constitute the only instances the writer could find of the use of the viva voce system.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the ballot was used in almost all of the United States. The term “ballot,” however, meant one or several pieces of paper which contained the names of the candidates and the designation of the offices, and which were used by the electors in voting. The ballots could be either written on printed; but were, as a matter of fact, almost always printed.

In appearance and form the ballots varied in different states and in different elections. The ticket of each party was separate, and, as a general rule, could be distinguished, even when folded, from all other tickets as far as it could be seen. Frequently the party tickets were of a different color. In a municipal election in Massachusetts the Republicans used a red ticket and the opposition a black one; and in the same