Recollections * 1950

There were many methods of stuffing the ballot box. It was usually placed from ten to twenty feet from the door, where the voter stood. A judge of the election would take the Republican ticket in his left hand, from the voter, but put in the box a Democratic ticket, which he had concealed in his right hand. Another common trick was to put a handful of Democratic tickets in the ballot box, when the Republican judge was taking a drink of water or liquor, or had turned his back. Sometimes, when the judge would go to dinner or to the toilet, a duplicate ballot box, filled with Democratic tickets, would be substituted for the original box. Then sometimes the Democrats would have two tickets printed, a large one that most people voted, and which was shown around, and a very small one which the Republicans never saw until the ballot box was opened at night. The old reliables would fold three or four of these small tickets into such a small package that the size was no larger than a regular ticket. When the ballot box was opened, all seemed very much surprised that it contained many more tickets than voters. Of course, this trick was pulled off in the Republican precincts. The officials either had to throw out the whole vote in that precinct or blind-fold a judge and get him to draw out the excessive number of tickets. My Uncle Atwood Walker was always one of the judges of the elections at Stevensville, and was the one that they always blind-folded. It is said that he had such a keen sense of touch that he nearly always drew out a Republican ticket.

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