of Mr. Walthew's, advocated by Mr. Judson Grenell, passed the House in 1887, but was lost in the Senate. In Wisconsin a compromise measure applying to cities of fifty thousand or over was adopted in 1887.[1] Under this law the party organizations printed the ballots and the state distributed them.[2]
But the honor of enacting the first Australian-ballot law belongs to Kentucky. This measure was introduced by Mr. A. M. Wallace, of Louisville, and was enacted February 24, 1888.[3] The act applied only to the city of Louisville, because the state constitution required viva voce voting at state elections. The ballots were printed by the mayor at the expense of the city. Candidates had to be nominated by fifty or more voters in order to have their names placed upon the ballot. The blanket form of the ballot was provided, with the names of the candidates arranged in alphabetical order according to surnames, but without party designations of any kind. The manner of obtaining and marking the ballots was the same as the Massachusetts act herein described.
The original centers of organized agitation for the reform were New York and Boston, and the two movements, while simultaneous, were independent. In Boston the earliest discussion and demand for ballot reform grew out of the discussions of public questions by the members of a club called the "Dutch Treat." Later the Boston City Council and the labor organizations began to demand reform. One of the members of the "Dutch Treat," Mr. H. H. Sprague, was elected to the state Senate and was made chairman of a committee on election law. Encouraged by these favorable signs, the club drafted a bill which was presented by Mr. Sprague. Another bill was presented in the House by Mr. E. B. Hayes, of Lynn. Mr. Hayes lent his support to the bill introduced by Mr. Sprague, a large number of petitions for the bill were received, and on May 29, 1888, the law was enacted.[4]
In New York a systematic discussion began in 1887 in the Commonwealth Club.[5] After a thorough discussion of this reform, a committee was appointed composed of some of the leading laywers and men of legislative and administrative experience, taken equally from the Republican and Democratic parties. This committee was subsequently joined by a like committee from the City Reform Club; and after some
