Registration.

In all cities where registration of the voters is required, men and women register on the same day in the ward or precinct in which they live.

For the purpose of registration the polls open from 6 o'clock a. m. to 9 o'clock p. m.

There are four election officers who have a book in which are registered the names of all the legal voters in their precinct. Two of these officers are called judges; one is a sheriff and the other is a clerk.

A person desiring to register enters the voting place and announces his or her intention to register. The judge takes the name, residence, party affiliation and citizenship, and may also inquire as to any other matter that would affect his or her right to vote at an election.

If found to be qualified, that is 21 years of age and a resident of the state for one year, a resident of the county for six months, and a resident of the precinct for sixty days, they may register unless in a class prohibited by law from exercising the right to vote.

The clerk then writes the name and address in the registration book entering also color and political affiliation. When this is done the registration is completed, and the elector is qualified to exercise the right of suffrage in all subsequent elections, special elections and primary elections for one year. The officers of the election give him or her a certificate of registration signed by all four officers of the registration, and if they lose this certificate they cannot vote at the regular election unless they get a duplicate certificate from the county clerk, which costs 50 cents.

In the different class cities there are some differences as to the method and time of registering, but in Kentucky the general registration is usually on the first Tuesday of October, in all cities and towns of the first, second, third, fourth and fifth classes. The hours for registration are from six o'clock a. m. to nine o'clock p. m.

Special registrations are held thereafter as follows: One special registration may be held by order of the city authorities, which will be conducted exactly as the first registration above referred to, and during the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next preceding the general election day those persons who were absent or sick, or unable to attend and register on the regular registration days, may appear before the county court clerk at his office in the court house, and register, to have the same effect as if the registration had taken place in the manner above referred to, also on the day before the election and on election day, public officers of the state, and the United States government, traveling salesmen and certain ministers of religion may apply before the county court clerk in the court house and be registered if they will make oath that they were not present in their city or town during any of the previous registration days. Persons that have become eligible to vote at the general primary election, which occurs on the first Saturday in August may register two weeks before the election in the county court clerk's office as above described, provided such persons were not in the city on any of the previous regular registration days, or who were not then qualified to register and may vote in the primary election in the same manner as other qualified electors.

The primary election is conducted in the same manner as any other election.

When you register the clerk gives you a certificate of registration, which you keep to show the election officers when you go to vote, that you have registered.Persons living in the country and small towns do not have to register.

The names of all candidates are arranged in columns, under the party device to which they belong. A voter by putting a cross mark in the circle under the rooster votes for all the Democratic nominees of his party. In the circle under the log cabin votes for the Republican nominees of his party.

This does not require a knowledge to even read, only to be able to distinguish between the pictures of a rooster and a log cabin.

Nominations—Primaries.

Candidates in the United States are usually nominated either in a party primary or a nominating convention.

Primaries are conducted like elections. The name of the party running for an office is put on the ballot of his party with the names of others who have filed similar petitions. On the day set for the primary the voters go to the polls and cast their vote as at a general election. The candidate who receives the largest number of votes is the nominee of the party for that office.

Primaries cost more than conventions—they are like elections—you have to advertise extensively and meet the voters. In a few months the election follows and you practically go over the same.

Only the voters who can vote in the party primary are those who registered for the previous election as members of that party.

Certificates and petitions of nomination must be filed with the Secretary of State not more than seventy-five days and not less than forty-five days, before the day fixed by law for the election of the persons in nomination, also certificates and petitions are directed to be filed with the clerk of the county court not more than seventy-five and not less than forty-five days before the election.

The primary elections are conducted in the same manner as any other election.

The two methods of making nominations are by a caucus or convention system, and the primary election system.

The qualifications for a voter at a primary are the same as election. On the first Saturday in August each year from 6 o'clock a. m. to 4 o'clock p. m. there shall be held at the regular polling places in each election precinct a primary election for the nomination of candidates for office by political parties, to be voted for at the next November election. You do not register to vote in the primary, and a citizen not of age at the time of the primary, but will be twenty-one before the November election can vote in the primary.Primaries are conducted similar to elections—about same laws and regulations.

Elections.

After all the political parties have nominated their candidates then the struggle for election begins.

The period of a few months between the nominations and elections is spent by each party in trying to get votes for its candidate.

Every voter must be twenty-one years old, a resident of the state for one year, of the county six months, and of the precinct sixty days.

On election day the voter goes to the polling place and appears before the election officers, who will probably be the same ones who presided at the registration. You give your name and residence, and if you live in a city where registration is required you must produce your registration certificate and one of the judges may consult the registration book to see if you have registered. If found to be registered, the clerk will write your name and address upon the stub of the ballot book and endorse his own name on the back of the ballot, and remove the ballot from the book leaving the stub (called the primary stub) in the book.

The voter will go into a voting booth with the ballot folded, then unfold the ballot, take the stencil, press it on the ink pad and if you desire to vote a straight party ticket place the stencil mark in the circle immediately underneath the device of the party whose candidates you desire to vote for. If you desire to vote for candidates irrespective of any party affiliation you will place the stencil mark in the small square immediately following the name of each candidate for whom you desire to vote.

When the ballot is thus completed you lay the stencil aside, fold the ballot in exactly the same manner as when you received it from the clerk and then return it to the judge of the election, who removes the secondary stub from the ballot and deposits the ballot itself in the ballot box. If any voter spoils or defaces a ballot by mistake so that it cannot be used he may return it, and get another, and the fact noted by the clerk by writing the word "spoiled" on the stub and spoiled ballot.

No person except the election officers shall remain within fifty feet of the polls, except when voting.

It shall be the duty of the sheriff in each county before an election to secure in each precinct of the county a suitable room in which to hold the election, and have sufficient booths in which electors shall mark their ballots, screened from observation.

Our laws concerning elections are more stringent in the past few years. Every precaution is taken to insure honesty of elections.

No officer of election shall do any electioneering on election day.

In all elections in Kentucky the voting shall be by ballot.

The ballot boxes are opened and inspected before voting begins to see that they are empty.

Electioneering is forbidden within one hundred feet of the polls.

Twice as many official ballots are provided for every polling place as there are registered voters in the district.

If a person is illiterate he is allowed assistance in marking his ballot.

An inspector may challenge a person's vote, but if they swear they are eligible their vote is recorded and marked challenged.

A person cannot vote who is not naturalized for at least ninety days before election. Also a person convicted of bribery or an infamous crime, a deserter from the army or navy, and one who bets on that election cannot vote.

The Governor of the State may restore one to citizenship so that they can vote.

In registration polls are opened from 6 a. m. to 9 p. m., but in election polls are opened from 6 a. m. to 4 p. m.

When the polls are closed the ballots are counted by the election officers and announced and placed in ballot box, which is locked by officers, who then take the ballot box, poll books, certificates, etc., to the county clerk who unlocks the box in the presence of the election officers to see if the packages containing the ballots are properly sealed, and if so, the county clerk issues his receipt for the box and ballots—one to the judge, and one to the sheriff.

The county clerk within a certain time sends the ballots to a canvassing board which examines them and makes an official announcement of the number of votes cast for each candidate, and gives them a certificate of their election. The successful candidates are notified and later installed into office.

Amendments To Constitution.

Amendments to the Constitution are handled in the same way as an election. The ballot contains the amendment proposed with "Yes" or "No" printed at the side. The party voting crosses out one of these words, puts the ballot in the blank envelope and returns it as in an election.

Voting By Mail.

Voting by mail is often a great convenience.

The world is becoming more democratic and the right to vote for representation is now arranged so that all eligible citizens of the United States, twenty-one and over, may have a part in governing his or her country.

If a voter is out of the state or county and holds his residence in the same place as when he voted last—or calls home—he or she can vote by mail. He must first register, which is also done by mail.

A printed ballot with return envelope is sent to him. The ballot is marked by placing a cross opposite the name of the candidate voted for, then put in a blank envelope, sealed and enclosed in an envelope addressed to the secretary or clerk of the county or chairman of the tellers.

This envelope must be signed by the one voting. The blank envelope containing the ballot is opened and the ballot deposited in the ballot box.

The one voting must take an oath before a notary public that he or she is eligible.

Electors for President and Vice President.

When the voters go to the polls on election day to vote for President and Vice President every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November they really cast their ballots for the electors who were nominated at the state convention. The names of the state electors of each party are printed on the ballots under the party name. The ones receiving the most votes are elected, and are morally bound to vote for the candidate of the party that elected them.

The campaign continues until the election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The electors elected in November meet at their state capital in January and vote for President and Vice President. The result of this vote is dispatched at once to the President of the Senate at Washington, D. C. The electors of the different states meet at Washington on the morning of the second Monday in January after their election, and give their vote at or after twelve o'clock according to law.

On the second Wednesday in February succeeding the meeting of the electors, the Senate and House of Representatives meet in the Hall of Representatives at 1 o'clock p. m. with the President of the Senate presiding.

Two tellers are appointed in each House to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the President of the Senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the —— electoral voters, which certificates and papers shall be opened, presented and acted upon in alphabetical order of the states; said tellers having then read the same in the presence and hearing of the two Houses, shall make a list of the voters as they shall appear from the said certificates, and the votes having been ascertained and counted, according to law; the result of the same shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall announce the result of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected President and Vice President of the United States, and together with the list of voters be entered on the journals of the two Houses.If no one receives a majority of all the electoral votes the Constitution provides that the House of Representatives shall choose a President and the Senate a Vice President. (Article XII, National Constitution.)

The President and Vice President are inaugurated on March 4th succeeding the election.

They take the oath of office on a platform on the east front of the Capitol. The President delivers an address outlining his policies, then returns to the White House.