<x-flowed>(I've heard that copies of this book have been stolen from some
libraries... which is a shame.  So, I've scanned it in (the publisher
has long ceased to exist).)

http://josephhall.org/nqb2/index.php/2006/08/04/albright_ab

## "The American Ballot" by Spencer Albright

To add to my small but growing library of historical voting materials,
I present: [**"The American Ballot"**][1] (14MB PDF) by Spencer
Albright (published by the American Council on Public Affairs in
1942).

[1]: http://josephhall.org/albright_american_ballot.pdf

Here is the compelling forward to the book, authored by O. Douglas
Weeks of the University of Texas Department of Government, in its
entirety:

The free election ballot is both the supreme symbol and the principal

working tool of democratic government.  It is the all-important
material object which democracy has sought to substitute for the
battle-axe or the hangman's noose both as an emblem and as a weapon in
the settlement of civil disagreements. The struggle to effect and
maintain the substitution has been a long and difficult one; and it
has not yet ended. In a very real sense, it is an important phase of
the present world conflict. Something has been gained, however, even
in the countries where democracy has been tried and abandoned, for
their rulers have retained the "ja" ballot as a useful device with
which to create the appearance of popular approval of their
authority. Thus the semblance, if not the essence, of democracy
lingers in their midst.

In the remaining democracies, however, the so-called free ballot is

only more or less free. Many obstacles to its use as an untrammeled
medium in the expression of the voter's choice are to be found in our
own country.  Some are to be traced to the circumstances surrounding
the procedure of casting the ballot-to machine politics, to the faults
of our election laws, and to the defects of our election
administration. Others require for their removal basic changes in the
organization of state and local government. The long ballot, the
excessive number of local areas in which elections are held, and the
multiplicity of elections generally are examples in point. Complete
ballot reform, therefore, must await the realization of more
fundamental reforms.

Short of this, however, there are many possible improvements in the

form of the ballot proper. Correction of defects on the face of the
ballot has made extensive progress in the United States during the
past half century.  The use of the publicly printed ballot as a
principal feature of the Australian ballot system, almost universally
adopted between 1888 and 1900, was a fundamental gain. So in the
twentieth century almost continuous amendment of the ballot laws has
been the rule.  Many of the changes have been for the better; but the
development has been very uneven from state to state, with the result
that variations in ballot forms all the way from the most indefensible
to really model features may be found in present-day election law
provisions.

The criteria of a good ballot form are hard to determine.  Perhaps the

most important consideration is that of making the ballot as easy as
possible for the voter to mark, so as not to deter him from voting,
and if he does vote, to reduce the possibility of his becoming
confused and thus either invalidating his ballot or marking it in a
manner not expressive of his true intent. Of course, it is possible to
render his task too simple, which is the case, in many states where
the party circle appearing on the ballot overemphasizes partisanship
and discourages thoughtful and independent voting. The relative merits
of the party-column and office-block types of general election
ballots, both of which are widely used in the United States, have been
frequently discussed by students of ballot forms. Equally important
are the problems of the non-partisan ballot and the proper form of the
primary ballot. Lastly, the voting machine as a fool-proof and
labor-saving substitute for the paper ballot and the inevitable
difficulties entailed in its marking and tabulation, is a most
important topic for those who are interested in simplifying the task
of voting. These and other matters must be carefully weighed on the
basis of facts and experience if defensible standards are to be set
up.

Dr. Albright in the present study has attacked primarily the problem

of collecting and comparing in a comprehensive and careful fashion the
facts in regard to the manifold ballot forms now in use in the United
States both in the general and primary elections and in regard to the
extent to which the voting machine has been adopted and the results
attained in its use. A work of this kind has been needed for some
time. In recent years the ballot has been considered in a number of
books concerned with broader phases of politics and elections, but not
for many years has so extensive a study of the ballot as this one
appeared in print. Here are summarized the changes of the past
quarter-century and particularly those of the last decade.

O. DOUGLAS WEEKS
Chairman,
Department of Government
The University of Texas