Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/85

72 bribe opposition voters to stay away from the polls. Another is known as the “Tasmanian dodge” or “endless chain.” By some method or other an official ballot is removed from the polling-place and is marked by a vote-purchaser on the outside. This marked ballot is given to a bribed elector who votes that ticket and brings back the one given to him by the ballot clerk unmarked. This process is repeated over and over again, and so gets its name of the endless chain. Probably the most effective method of defeating the Australian ballot is by means of the “assisted vote.” By agreement every corrupt elector upon entering the voting-booth claims assistance in preparing his ballot. His ticket is then marked by an election officer, who is in collusion with the purchaser, and the elector is given something in the nature of a token as a proof that the goods have been delivered. The elector can obtain his money upon surrendering his token. As Mr. Kennan shows in his description of Mr. Addicks’ methods in Delaware (Outlook, February 21, 1903), this system destroys the secret ballot. The last resort of a corrupt machine to stave off defeat is in the counting of the votes. The result of the election may be entirely changed by declaring opposition votes to be void because of some alleged defect in the ballot, or by a deliberate miscounting of the total votes for the respective candidates. The laws compelling election boards to be bipartisan has failed to prevent this last abuse. It is of course obvious that the selection of honest officials is an essential of the Australian system or any other system for that matter. The trouble with all of the foregoing methods of defeating the Australian ballot is with the officials and not with the system itself.

In conclusion, it may be said that the Australian ballot is a decided advance toward a realization of true democratic government. While not completely destroying the evils of the unofficial ballot, it mitigated those evils. It has cleared away the obstacles which formerly prevented a free expression of the public will. It has made good government possible if the electors really want it.