US1111854A - Irregular-voting device. - Google Patents

Description

G. H. OO UMPAUGH.

IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21. 1912- Patented Sept. 29. 1914.

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G. H. OUUMPAUGH.

IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

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C. H. OGUMPAUGH.

IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 21, 1912.

1,1 1 1,854. Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

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C. H. UGUMPAUGH.

IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

' APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1912.

1,1 1 1,854. Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

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IRREGULAR VOTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1912.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914 WW /woo UNITED STATEiIiTENT oFFIoE.

CHARLES HERBERT OCUMPAUGH, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

To all whom it may concern Be it knownv that I, CHARLES HERBERT OOUMPAUGH, a resident of Rochester, in the county. of Monroeand State of New York. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Irregular-Voting Devices;v

and ;I, do hereby declare the following to bea-fulhclear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to irregular vote mechanism. 7

The object of the invention is to provide simple and eflicient and easily controlled means for voting by depositing suitable ballots, being irregular mechanism shown in a complete machine in Patent No. 1,013,680.

of the same the top of the casing being broken away; Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1; Fig. 4: 1s 21860131011 on llne 4, 4 of Fig. 3; Flg. 5 1s a perspective view of an irregular vote box and Fig. 6 a

similar view of a block forming a modified irregular vote or ballot; Fig. 7 is a broken partial perspective of the machine; Fig. 8 is a partial plan of diagrammatic character; Fig. 9 is an enlarged partial section, the conduit closing arm being partly broken away; Fig. 10 is a similar view showing a vote receptacle or ballot fully entered and in readiness to be pushed into its chute by its slide bar when reset; Fig. 11 is a perspective view of vote indicator resetting devicesfrom the rear of the machine.

The machine herein illustrated comprises a plurality of sets of slide bars, one set for each ofiice to be filled, and as many bars in each set as there are possible candidates for the corresponding oflice. Thus there may be ten sets of bars which would permit voting for ten candidates, and if there were four regular parties I would provide five slide bars in each. set, one bar being used for each party, and an extra bar for irregularl voting. The slide bars for each set preferably interlock so that but one bar may Specification 6f Letters Patent.

IRREGULAR-VOTING DEVICE.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

Application filed November 21, 1912. Serial No. 732,695.

be moved and one candidate voted for each otfice but this is not essential.

In the drawings A indicates a rectangular frame or casing within whichnearly all of the mechanism is inclosed. The casing has a front plate 1, the middle of which constltutes the name plate, which is divided lnto vertical and horizontal sections. The oflices to be filled are designated on the sections of the left hand tier or row; the Republican candidates are posted on the sections 3 of the next tier or row, the Democratic candidates on the sections 4 of the next row, etc. In the rear of the front plate 1 and extending nearly from end to end of the casing are a series of-sets of sliding bars. There should be as many setsof bars as there are horizontal rows of divisions'on the name plate andas many bars in a set as there. are Vertical rows of. divisions. In other words, there is a bar for each section or card on the name plate. For instance, for the next to the top row there is a set of bars consisting of individual bars a, b, 0, (Z, c, and The bar f has a handle f extending through an opening in the. left hand section, the bar a has a similar handle a extending through an opening in the next section to the right, and so on, each bar being provided with a handle extending through its appropriate section. The bar f in each group is the irregular-vote interlocking bar. The forward movement of a regular-vote bar a, b, c, d, or 6 or of an irregular-vote bar f, is directly effected by the voter who thereby selects his candidate. or makes it possible to select his candidate by means of the irregularballot. The selected slide can be returned by its handle and another slide moved at any time while the voter is in the booth.

At their middle and at their left hand ends the bars are sustained in suitable bearings 11, 12. At their right ends the bars are formed with rectangular extensions 13 and tapered or wedged shaped offsets 14. The reduced portions 13 normally rest between two guide strips 15, and they are separated by balls 16 which are sustained in guide grooves 17 The balls 16 which separate the sets of rods from each other are held from longitudinal movement in grooves 17 by cotter pins 18 or other suitable fastening devices, said devices being so arranged that these balls can bereleased if desired, for examplqby withdrawing said cotter pins. In the ball channel between two of the balls 16 there is sufficient slack to permit of one of the slide bars being pushed to the right until its body portion separates the balls, the inclines 14 forcing the balls up and down from it. This operation locks the other slide bars in the set against longitudinal movement and thus the voter is prevented from voting for two or more persons for the same oflice. If, however, it is de sirable that a voter should be permitted to vote for any two names for one oflice in one section it may be accomplished by liberating the confined ball 16' at the upper or lower side of the section, when any two slide bars in the two joined sections can be moved to the rightas the slack in the two sections is combined. This permits a voter to vote for aplurality of candidates for the same ofiice, termed multi-candidate voting, if desired.

At the head of each party column is an opening 10 through which projects a lever 20 which is mounted on a shaft 21 which carries a radial blade 22. When lever 20 is in its normal position the blade 22 stands to the left of a vertical row of teeth on the rear of certain of the slide bars. Thus, as shown, the blade 22 of the lever 20 of the Republican column stands at the left of the teeth 6, which teeth are on the slide bars connected with the handles a p in said column. By moving the lever 20 to the right the shaft 21 is turned and all the slide bars representing the Republican candidates are moved to the right, thus setting the machine for a straight Republican ticket. If it is not desired to vote a straight ticket the straight ticket bars moved to the right, as above described, but not wanted may be moved back to the left and bars representing candidates of other parties can be selected in their laces. Or after moving back a slide in t e straight ticket row an irregular or unnominated candidate may be voted for. Voted irregular slides interlock but there is nothing to prevent such a slide or bar being withdrawn (the irregular ballot being first withdrawn by the voter) and another one substituted and hence the voter is at liberty to change his vote before leaving the voting position before the machine.

The resetting mechanism includes a blade 29 radially arranged on a vertical shaft 30. While the slide bars are being set the blade 29 stands inits normal position away from the ends of the slide bars and at a sufiicient distance to allow any of the bars to be set for voting. After the'vote is registered the shaft 30 is rocked and the blade 29 ismoved against the ends of the slide bars, thus forcin all the bars that have been set into their eft hand or normal osition. Before another Vote'is taken the s aft is rocked in the other direction and the blade 29 returned 'to its normal position.- The shaft 80 is pro wheel 33 upon a vertical shaft 34 which is preferably located near the middle of the casing. Upon the upper end of the shaft 34 is a horizontal lever which has a jointed extension 36. This lever is operated by the voter who comes into the booth at the rear of the machine, grasps the end of the lever and walks around the left end of the machine carrying the lever with him until he reaches the name-plate in front, when he releases the lever and is ready to arrange his vote. This operation rocks the shaft 34 approximately 90". By the medium of the wheel 33 and chain 32 it also rocks the shaft 30 and moves the blade 29 away from the ends of the slide bars. After the vote is arranged the voter again grasps the lever and walks around the left end of the machine to the rear, rocking the shaft 34 approximately 90 and moving the resetting blade 29 against the end of the slide bars to reset them. In thusresetting the bars, including the bar f, an irregular vote-receiving opening f is closed and the shaft 34 also moves an arm 51 to close a vote receiving chute 50. The exact distance through which the shaft 34 is rocked is not essential.

35 denotes a resetting lever shown in initial position in full lines. In entering the booth the voter moves the lever to the situation indicated in dotted lines and resets the voting mechanism. In leaving the booth he returns the lever and thereby registers the vote cast in the meantime. I

39 denotes counters for the regular vote and need not be described herein.

The handles f of the irregular voting bars f are secured to the ends of said bars, the handles extending through openings f in the left hand tier of sections on the nameplate. By placing such handle f at the end of its bar the irregular ballot opening will be uncovered by movement of the handle and bar to the right, to permit the insertion of an irregular vote. Extension of this bar to the vicinity of the registers is not essential since the irregular votes are counted in the ordinary manner, that is, ballots which have been deposited in designated receptacles, preferably midway of the machine, are counted. Such a ballot comprises a name inscribed on a paper or the like and in closed in a box D, or is written on a block or box D. The irregular slide is then moved to the right and the block or box is passed into the opening f at the left of the handle f. As the voter leaves the booth and rocks the shaft 34 the arms 51 are first withdrawn and the irregular vote counted, and finally the resetting blade pushes the bar f to the left and forces the vote into the chute 50. As the next voter enters the arms 51 again swing around to close the conduits 50.

It is thus only possible for a voter to cast one irregular vote for each oiiice as there is only room for one irregular block or box in the opening at one time, and only one name should be on the block or box, and any block or box having more than one name should be thrown out and not counted. The chute 50 is closed by arm 51 until the slide f is reset With the effect to push the vote into the chute. As shown in Fig. 10, the irregular slide bar Which terminates at the handle f has been moved to the locking position and the vote D inserted upon a part 50 of the chute. After the handle has pushed the vote into the chute the bar handle or the bar or both constitute a closure or cover for the mouth of said chute. Although but a single receptacle 50 with corresponding chute or conduit and conduit-stopping arm is shown it will be understood that in practice the number will equal the number of irregular nominees. It is obvious that the distance through Which the arms 51 are moved might be varied, the operating gear being suitably modified, and that the principle would remain the same Whether one or more chutes Were closed by an arm.

For convenience of description I have used the terms vertical, horizontal, right, left, etc., but it should be understood that the in vention is not limited to these particular arrangements and directions.

The regular-vote registers or counters on the register-rack are denoted by 39. Although parts of the regular voting mechanism have been described herein it is to make the construction and operation of the irregular vote devices and their relation to other parts clear, the invention claimed herein relating solely to the irregular vote devices.

The dimensions of the irregular ballot, that is, of box D or of block D, and of the irregular vote opening are such that only one ballot can be inserted at the same time in said opening. An inserted ballot is freely removable by the voter up to the final act of voting.

Having described the invention What I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a voting machine, in combination, a face plate having a vote-receiving opening, a chute communicating with said opening, voting devices, means for resetting said voting devices, a shaft and connections for operating said resetting means, and an arm on said shaft extending, when the parts are in voting position, into said chute adjacent said opening.

2. In a voting machine, in combination, a face plate having a vote receiving opening, a chute communicating with said opening, a slide bar movable adjacent said opening, means for moving said slide bar to engage a vote deposited in said opening and positively move the same therefrom, said means including a shaft, and an arm on said shaft extending, When the parts are in voting position, into said chute adjacent said opening.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES HERBERT OCUMPAUGH.

Vitnesses:

C. M. CATLIN, E. L. WHITE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

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