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LEFT ELECTOBAL BEFOBM 488 ELECTORAL BEFORM elections from corrupt and illegal prac- tices have become much more stringent in the opening years of the 20th century. Generally speaking, this was a reform era in the States in matters social and political. Massachusetts in 1892 passed a law requiring all political campaign committees to file a written statement, duly sworn to, of all expenditures made by them. The object of such a law was to secure publicity and no limit was placed on the amount that could be spent. In the succeeding years nearly every State enacted such statutes compelling publicity of campaign expenditures. As yet no State has limited the amount spent. Mr. Bryan and other reformers have demanded that these statements be filed and made public before election day, but the suggestion has nowhere been adopted. The reform of the civil service by tak- ing away from candidates their power, when elected, to reward party workers has decreased the amount of illegal and corrupt practices by taking away an in- centive to such actions. Many States, such as Pennsylvania, have passed per- sonal registration laws for the larger cities requiring citizens to register their names on books kept by election officers a month before the election occurs. The object is to allow the lists to be purged of voters who have no residence in the district and to prevent a sudden influx of paid voters. Elections in the city of Philadelphia were much more honestly conducted following the passage of this law. The change of election days in the various States so as to make the presi- dential elections all take place on the same date has decreased bribery in such elections. The tendency formerly was to center attention on those States voting prior to November and to attempt to carry them regardless of cost. The adoption of the Australian secret ballot has led to a decrease in bribery and in- timidation of voters. There has been an effort on the part of reformers to discourage party voting and to encourage so-called independent voting. Owing to the control of the legislatures by either of the two well- established parties efforts to legislate on this reform have not been uniformly suc- cessful. The tendency to vote a straight party ticket has always been strong be- cause of the ease with which it can be done: a simple mark at the head of the ticket being all the voter is required to do. As there are often two hundred names on a ballot if the voter undertakes to "split" his ticket he runs considerable risk of losing his vote entirely by mak- ing some trifling mistake in the marking of it. Reformers have suggested two ways of coping with the situation. One of them, adopted in Massachusetts, pro- vides for the entering of the names on the ballot in alphabetical order without any party label and allowing no way by which the voter by a single cross can vote for more than one candidate. This is called the "blanket" ballot. The other, adopted in New Jersey and in other States, is the "short ballot." The num- ber of elective offices is greatly reduced, lessening the names appearing on the ballot, and consequently increasing the 1 importance and prominence of those that A do. In the Southern States the colored voter after 1876 was kept away from the poles by intimidation or by the "grand- father" clauses inserted in the State con- stitution. When these latter were de- clared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court, educational quali- fications were substituted. This method, while administered so as to exclude only ignorant colored voters, has worked to increase honesty and intelligence in vot- ing. In many Southern States a small property qualification has been added to more effectively prevent the colored pop- ulation from votmg. In August, 1920, Tennessee ratified the nineteenth amendment to the Con- stitution of the United States, thereby making the necessary three-fourths of the States required to make the amend- ment law. This amendment grants full suffrage rights to women in every State, and while many Northern and Western States prior to 1920 had permitted women to vote, this amendment makes it obligatory upon all to do so. Thus ended a long and bitter fight made by the women for enfranchisement. The main interest of election reform- ers in the United States is now directed to the primary elections. As these are wholly within the party, and the political party itself is not provided for in the State and Federal Constitutions, the task of reforming it is rather a difficult one. The right to nominate is such an im- portant one that if corrupt interests or the political "boss" control the choice of candidates the matter of the elections be- comes chiefly a choosing between two sets of "bossed" nominees. Most of the States had by 1920 provided for the nam- ing of the candidates by direct primary vote instead of the old convention system, believing that it would be more difficult for the "boss" to manipulate the votes of thousands than it was for him to sway a convention. This has proved only partially true. In the presidential primary campaign of 1912 many North- ern States had what was known as presi- dential preference primaries in which the voters of the party instructed their dele*