NYMONROE-L Archives

From: Eric & Eloise Labram <>
Subject: Re: [NYMONROE-L] Voting Machine Inventor a Rochesterian?
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 22:57:01 -0500
References: <002c01c050e6$a6170300$ceb182d1@gcwelch>

In Maryland you use a black marker and draw a line to complete the arrow
pointing to the candidate of your choice. You then put your ballot in a
computerized machine and it will spit it back out if you colored in 2
lines for the same race. I prefered the pull the lever voting machines
from Rochester. I felt like I was voting instead of playing connect the
dots.

Eloise in Ellicott City MD

Gary Welch wrote:
>
> Of the four states where I've lived, I think that the voting machines used
> in NY are the least likely to be confusing, they at least prevent you from
> voting for two candidates for the same position. However, they probably
> won't be around much longer. A recent Wall Street Journal article said that
> the lever machines used in NY and several other places are 25-50 years old.
> They have been out of production since 1978 and no spare parts have been
> made since 1988.
>
> A couple of the other states where I've lived couldn't use lever voting
> machines even if they were available, they don't have enough columns. In
> Michigan it wasn't unusual to have more than 40 offices up for election. I
> moved from Texas recently, the last election that I was there I counted 83
> offices on the ballot.
>
> Punch cards, like used in Florida, are the most common method of voting in
> the U.S. They aren't basically much different from the system invented by
> Hollerith to tabulate the 1890 census.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [mailto:]
> Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2000 4:28 PM
> To:
> Subject: [NYMONROE-L] Voting Machine Inventor a Rochesterian?
>
> Friends,
>
> The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle's Dick Dougherty begins his column of
> 11/15/2000 by writing:
>
> "If Florida had had the sense to buy and stick with Rochesterian Jacob
> Myers'
> 1880 voting machine, all this unpleasantness in Palm Beach County, Fla.
> could
> have been avoided."
>
> I agree! Having voted all of my adult life, and always by machine vote, I
> was
> astounded to learn that various other people throughout the U.S. were using
> anything but a voting machine!
>
> But more important to us is the fact that a gentleman by the name of MYERS,
> from Rochester, Monroe County, NY was the inventor of that voting machine
> (according to Dick's research).
> I am researching persons having that name (or variations thereof) as is my
> cousin in Chicago. We will have to continue our research to determine if
> Jacob might fit into our family tree!
>
> Dick writes that the first of Jacob's voting machines was used in the
> election of 1892 in Lockpor/Niagara County, NY and the last machine to be
> manufactured was made in Jamestown, NY in 1982. "After that, gears and
> levers
> were replaced by transistors and silicon chips. If you ask me, it's been
> down
> hill ever since."
>
> I found Dick's column very interesting and hope no one minds my mentioning
> it
> here. And if anyone does mind and writes me to object, I will simply reply:
> "You don't have to get snippy about it"!
> (Inside joke, if you haven't been following the election process!)
>
> Happy Thanksgiving to all!
> Bob Wambach
>
> ______________________________
>
> ==== NYMONROE Mailing List ====
> Monroe County is home to Kodak, Xerox, Bausch & Lomb, Paychex and many
> more companies.

This thread:

• [NYMONROE-L] Voting Machine Inventor a Rochesterian? by
  • RE: [NYMONROE-L] Voting Machine Inventor a Rochesterian? by "Gary Welch" <>

    • Re: [NYMONROE-L] Voting Machine Inventor a Rochesterian? by Eric & Eloise Labram <>

  • Re: [NYMONROE-L] Voting Machine Inventor a Rochesterian? by