US726779A - Voting-machine. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTBD APR. 28, 1903.

A1 M. SPAULDING. VTING MACHINE.

APP oATloN FILED M1029. 1902.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

ALMON M. SPAULDING, OF NEI/V ERA, MICHIGAN.

VOTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 726,779, dated April 28, 1903.

Application led December 29, 1902. Serial No. 137.018. (No model.)

To afi/Z whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALMON M. SPAULDING, acitizen of the United States, residing at New Era, in the county of Oceana and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Voting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

M v invention relates to improvements in voting-machines'for use at general, State, and county, or' municipal elections; and its objects are, first, to provide a machine lthat will accurately and invariably record leach and every vote cast; second, to provide a machine that may be easily and readily adjusted for voting either a` straight ticket or a split ticket at the will of the voter; third, to provide a voting-machine With which it will be impossible for a voter to repeat or otherwise tamper with the ballots cast or to be cast; fourth, to provide for correcting errors before casting the ballot and at the same time to render itimpossible to manipulate the machine after the ballot has been cast and while the voter is yet in the booth, and, fifth, to provide a voting-machine with which the register of votes may be instantly and accurately read by the returning-board as soon as the indexes are exposed to View and that Will deposit and hold ballots in store for recount in case of disputed elections. I attain these objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in 'Which- Figure l is a top plan, of the machine with the cover or roof removed. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the upper portion ot' the machine with the front removed to disclosel the ballot-tubes and their indexes. Fig. 3 is a sectional end elevation of the machine on the line c a: of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is the same, showing the cylinder in position for registering the vote. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the voting-sleeves on the line y y of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the same, showing a large pulley for actuating the shaft for vot-y ing a straight ticket and the manner of des ignating the several parties upon the adjust'- able voting-sleeves. the saine. Fig. 8 is a plan of the ballot-depository removed from the machine With the 5o receiving-apertures closed and the cover Fig. 7 is an end view ot locked to place. Fig. 9 is a section of the side of the booth, showing the door secured and locked by the locking latch; and Fig. 10 shows a lever attachment for vmanipulating the voting roll and sleeves for voting a straight ticket.

Similar letters referto similar parts throughout the several viewsA A represents the i'nclosing booth, which is divided by the partitions B and Cinto practically three compartments-viz., U, V, and W. The front compartment U contains a series of tubes B for the reception of the balls or ballots Q and has a Weight b in each tube, said Weights each having an index-ingerprojecting through slots in the fronts of the tubes to the indexes b', as indicated in Fig. 2, to indicate upon the index the exact number of ballots cast for each candidate voted for at any election. During the casting of ballots the compartment U is closed, so that no one has access to it either to see the position of the index-fingers to ascertain the condition of the ballots orto interfere with or manipulate the ballots or Weights.

Below each of the tubes B' is a slide I, arranged When in its normal position to stand so that the aperture h will register with the tubes, so that a ballot will drop from the tube into the aperture, and when the slides are thrown forward, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 and the section-lined slide in Fig. 4E, this aperture is carried forward to register with the aperture t" through theV door of the compartment, so that the ballot will drop through into the receptacle P, as indicated in Fig. 4. The receptacle Pis divided into several compartments corresponding with the number of tubes, as indicated by the dotted cross-lines in Figs. 2 and 8, so that the ballots dropped fromeach tube are kept separate from all the others, thus keeping an exact register of all thev ballots cast for each candidate. This receptacle is provided with a sliding cover P', which is held to place by the ears p2 and is provided with apertures p' for the passage of the ballots. Vnen the receptacles is in place in the machine, the cover is slid back to the position indicated by the dotted lines to the right of Fig. 8, so that the IOO aperturep'will register both with the apertures il in the icor of the compartment U and with like apertures through the top of the receptacle, (indicated bly the dotted circles between the apertures p Yin the cover P in Fig. 8.) This receptacle is supported to the lower surface of the floor of the machine by the ears or lugs p engaging the lugs or slides T in such a manner that it cannot be removed from the case or machine except by sliding it endwise, as indicated by the dotted lines to the right of Fige 2, which slides the receptacle and coverto the relative positions shown in Fig. 8, closing all of the apertures in the receptacle and locking the cover to place by a lock, (indicated at 132,) so that the ballots cannot be removed until the receptacle has been placed in the hands of the proper oflicials having the key to the cover.

This voting-machine is operated as follows: The large drum D is supported upon the shaft C', which in turn is journaled into or upon the side supportsrC in such a manner that the drum may be: readily revolved. I also journal ashaft F to the ends of the drum D, near the periphery of the drum, and mount thereon a series of sleeves E E and a pulley E. The pulley E'is securely attached to the shaft F, so that it cannot be revolved without revolving the shaft. I place a coiled spring f Within this puliey, one end of which is attached to the pulley or the shaft and the other end is attached to the end of the drum, so that the rebound'of the spring Will always carry the shaft back to its normal position, with the pin R against the stop R'. (See Fig. 5.) I provide the shaft F with a series of pins G, one for each sleeve that engage the stops Gr' in the sleeves E, so that these sleeves will be actuated' by and made to revolve with the shaft F for the purpose of arranging the machine for voting a straight ticket, to be hereinafter more fully described. I place in each of the sleeves E a coiled springf, one end of each of which is connected with the sleeveand the other end with the shaft, so that they hold the stops G normally in contact with the pins G, so that they must revolve with the shaft F for the purpose hereinbefore stated; but by reason of the open space in the ends of sleeves each sleeve may be operated independent of the shaft or of the other sleeves for the purpose of arranging to vote a split ticket, as follows: Each of the sleeves E has as many radiating pins e e as there are tickets in the field or candidates for the offices represented by the respective sleeves. Thus if there are two parties in the iield, as indicated in Fig. 6,

there would be two pins upon each sleeve.

ticket will be to turn the shaftFto theproper j: positionjby means of the belt I-I, the lever S, ff, or otherwise acting upon the pulley E, as and with theleffect hereinbefore suggested. The position of the shaft of Vsleeves to vote for the candidates desired is determined by the adjustablegstops D, against which the pins repre- 1 senting Ythe candidates to be voted for must rest. One end of these stopsis pivoted to `to aetuate the slides I that represent the cani didates to be voted for,will be held against the Y stops by the springs f and f( in position, so

that when the drum D is carried around to the position represented in Fig. 4 the proper pins e crie will come in contact with the back ends of the proper slides I and slide them' forward 'until the apertures 1l' and t register,

as and for the purpose hereinbefore stated, and when the drum is turned back to its normal position (indicated in Figs. l, 3, and 4,) the cleat CZ will engage the pins t' and draw the sleeves I back to normal position, so thatY the apertures t' will register with the tubes Y B' and receive from them additional ballots ready for the next voter. To vote a split ticket, the sleeves E must be manipulated independent of the shaft F or of each other by pulling upon the belts or cords H until the desired pins e or e', &c., are brought to bear upon the stops D', when the drum D is to be manipulated the same as when voting a straight ticket. When the drum D is revolving back from the position shown in Fig. 4 to its normal position, that shown in Fig. 3, the slide N engages the upper surface of the incline N and travels up to the point n', at which point the trip N2, which passes under the stops D', raises the stops high enough so that the pins e or e may pass back under them and the sleeves and shaft F return to their normal position. This incline N is pivoted to the support C, as at fa, andthe support N2 is pivoted to the ends of the drum D, as at n2. When the lever S is used to aetuate the shaft F, it is pivoted to the support Gand has an arm that extends over and engages the pin t' on the pulley E', (see Fig. 10,) or the attachment may be made in any other available Way.

The drum D and its several attachments are inelcsed in a case havinga glass front M, so located that the voter can easily see the office, candidates, and party names, the office and candidates names being placed upon the stops D and the party names being placed upon the sleeves E in position to clearly indieate the pins e or e', that represent the several parties and candidates to be voted for, as indicated in Figs. l and 6. The drum should be placed at a proper height for the voter to easily and conveniently see the candidate and partynames and at the same time IIO have the ends of the straps I-I and II perfectly accessible and in position to be conveniently operated.

K represents the door where the voter enters the booth to vote, and K is the door through which he leaves the booth. The latch L, that secures the door K, is pivoted to the crank .T in such a way that when the drum D is in its normal position, asin Fig. 3, the door K can be opened and the voter may enter the booth to vote, and at the same the latch L so secures the door K that it cannot be opened until the drum D is thrown around to the position indicated in Fig. e for casting the ballot, when the latch L' will be drawn back, and the door K is free to open for the egress of the voter; but the door K will be securely locked by the latch L, so that it cannot be opened until the drum is again turned back to normal position, which can only be done by the guard on the outside by disengaging the notch Z from the staple Z. (Shown in Fig. 9.) The latch L' has-an exactly similar locking device, hidden by the partition O in Fig. 3. The door K should open outward andthe door K should open inward, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. l.

The cover P of the receptacle P shouldlbe of a proper length to just lill the distance between the walls of the booth, as shown in Fig. 2, and the receptacle P should be enough shorter so that when it is inserted and slid to the left to engage the lugs T the apertures t'" through the floor of the compartment U, p through the cover P of the receptacle, and those through the top of the receptacle (repsented by dotted circular lines between the apertures p in Fig. will exactly register; but when the receptacle is slid to the right to remove it from the machine the apertures through the cover and into the receptacle will be closed, as in Fig. S.

If in arranging the sleeves E for voting a split ticket the voter has passed one or more of the candidates he desires to vote for and has placed the pins representing candidates he does not wish to vote for against the stops, he can correct the mistake by raising the latch L and throwing the drum D around from its normal position until the slide N' passes the point n3 on the incline N, when the drum must be returned to its normal position, in which case the slide I passes up over the incline, raising the trip N2, and with it the stops D', so that the pins e or e may return to their normal position, and the sleeves E may be again arranged to form the ticket desired to be voted by the voter. To illustrate:

If a man desired to vote for the Republican governor and the Democratic secretary of state and in the manipulation of the strap H he has set the sleeves for the straight Republican ticket, it is evident he cannot return the sleeve representing the Democratic secretary, as the pin G in contact with the stop G' precludes the possibility of the sleeve turning back. .In this case the voter should turn the straight Democratic ticket, this being the first to arrange itself before the stops D', and then carry the Republican governors sleeve to position by pulling upon the strap H, that controls the proper sleeve, and so on to the end of the ticket, and if there are several tickets in the field and the voter Wishes to4 split extensively he should draw only the first straight ticket in line and arrange all other individual candidates to position by manipulating the individual sleeves representing the candidates to be voted for, or, if preferable, the springs f may be made sufficiently long and flexible to allow the sleeves E to be revolved around far enough to returnto the candidate desired without the necessity of returning the shaft F to its normal position. This may be accomplished by the use of the pivoted stop G (shown in Fig. 7) or b y any of the ordinary application of the pawl-andratchet or other Well-known appliances for actuating mechanism of this character, as and for the purpose stated.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire t-o secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a voting-machine, an inclosing booth, vertical ballot-tubes slotted and indexed, horizontal transfer-slides beneath said tubes, an actuating-drum, actuating-sleeves journaled upon said drum, radiating pins upon the sleeves, pivotal stops upon the drum engaging said pins, and holding them in position to engage the transfer-slides substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a voting-machine, an inclosing booth, vertical ballot-tubes within said booth, said tubes slotted and indexed, horizontal transfer-slides beneath said tubes and having apertures registering with said tubes, a divided receptacle beneath said slides and having apertures arranged to register with the apertures in said slides, an adjustable andself-locking cover upon said receptacle, a revoluble actu-Y ating-drum,revoluble actuating-sleeves journaled in said drum, actuating-springs connected with said sleeves, actuating-pins radiating from said sleeves, stops pivoted to the drum in position to engage the pins, an adjusting-trip and inclines arranged to disengage the stops from the pins, an actuatingcleat d on the drum and corrresponding pins t on the slides, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a voting-machine, an inclosing booth, vertical ballot-tubes in said booth, horizontal transfer-slides beneath said tubes and having apertures arranged to register with the tubes, a divided receptacle beneath said slides and having apertures arranged to register with the apertures in the slides an actuating-drum, an act uating-shaft and sleeves j ournaled upon said drum, pins upon the sleeves and correlOO sponding stops pivoted to the drum, a trip corresponding pins upon the slides, substanand actuating-molines upon thedium, a shaft tially as and foi1 the purpose set forth. Io supporting the dru'im-anks uponsaid shaft, Signed at Grand Rapids, Michigan, Decementiance and exit door-s to the booth, latches bei' 24, 1902.

5 eooontiioally pivoted to the cranks and sup- ALMON M. SPAULDING.

ported in position to automatically look the in presence 0frespective doors at opposite positions of the ANDREW ALLGIER, drum, an actuating-cleat upon the drum and i ITHIEL J. CILLEY.

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