Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/27

 disorderly. Sham battles were frequently engaged in to keep away elderly and timid voters of the opposition. Many electors had their coats torn from their backs, ballots snatched from their hands and others put in their place, with threats against using any ballot except the one substituted.

By the close of the second decade following the Civil War the ballot had been adopted in every state except Kentucky. In all the states the ballots were unofficial, although some progress had been made toward an official ballot. Fifteen states provided that the ballot should be printed on plain white paper. Two states required the ballot to be printed on paper furnished by a state official. Five states regulated the size of the tickets. The system was, however, very defective. It had failed to secure an honest vote, or a true expression of the public will. The defects were: first, it was not secret; secondly, there was no means provided by law for the printing and distribution of the ballots; thirdly, there was no means provided for protecting the public against eleventh-hour nominations, which made a public exposure of the candidates impossible; fourthly, the necessarily large expense deterred independent and non-partisan candidates; fifthly, the noise, violence, and confusion about the polls were disagreeable. There was need of a system of voting which would obviate or diminish these evils.