Page:The Wisconsin idea (IA cu31924032449252).pdf/147

 be considered later as there seems to be a strong sentiment in favor of it.

Wisconsin has not the real Australian ballot, that is, the ballot without the circle which has been used for a long time in Massachusetts and Minnesota and now is being very gradually adopted in other states. It was often recommended by Governor La Follette and at one time was defeated by a 40 to 40 vote. The Social-Democratic party, which is represented by fourteen members in the legislature, are greatly opposed to this form of ballot. This organization believes in working strictly through party lines, in making a program and remaining true to it regardless of individuals. To remove the circle from the ballot would be striking at the very fundamentals of this party. The tide has always been turned against an Australian ballot bill by the Socialist vote and proposed bills for non-partisan elections in cities have suffered like defeat. A fierce struggle for the enactment of this last named measure is already presaged for the 1913 legislature.

The electoral machinery is not perfect, but the above is a brief statement of its underlying principles and of what has been accomplished thus far for its improvement.