I just won the coolest thing on Ebay! (pics)

[crispini]

"This is an antique Demo model of a Voting Machine. It was placed on tables at polling places to allow people to know how a voting machine works. It was found in the garage. This is a nice vintage piece of political memorabilia. It has all of the cards in place and has a stand to allow it to stand on a table. Made by Automatic Voting Machine Corp., Jamestown, NY. A very well made model. Model #16553."








Yes, I am a complete and total nerd. It's cool though eh?

[Robeson]

1. Nice, but without the inside mechanisms....

...you want be able to see how they fixed 'em in those days...

[crispini]

3. yeah, but those real ones were BIG.

and from what I hear it was easy enough to just transpose digits as you read them off from the back of the machine. mechanical intervention not necessary. :7

[Robeson]

5. Thats true, or the Elections Boards were simply bribed....

...which worked just as good!

[crispini]

11. yep, the more things change

the more they stay the same! :P

[fortyfeetunder]

2. Not only is it cool, but

you might have to use it for real one day! :bounce:

[crispini]

6. Hee!

I'd really like to give it to our county elections guy. But I want to enjoy it first. Maybe I'll give it him someday.

[caledesi]

4. Very cool! nt

[Nicole]

7. cool!

[Ladyhawk]

8. Cool...do you have a ballot? It would be nice to vote for FDR. n/t

[crispini]

14. That'd be funny.

Nah, it's just a demo machine. No ballot. Actually, I wonder if these machines actually used ballots? I don't think they did. I think they just counted as they went.

Hm..... sounds familiar!

[pres2032]

9. sadly that's similiar to what I still use to vote

my precinct is behind the times, what can i say. that's awsome that it has FDR on it!

[tammywammy]

10. That's cool

It's not nerdy...well a little nerdy, but I'm nerdy with you. It's a good conversation piece too.

[ChoralScholar]

12. The first thing you should do when it arrives is

flip the Roosevelt/Truman switch. :)

[crispini]

15. Wait, I thought Dewey won.

I saw it in the paper. ;)

Ok, wrong election but I had to say that.

[Wapsie B]

13. That is cool.

[crispini]

16. a ha, it's from Erie County, PA

At least there was a state senator named Joseph R. Ziesenheim from there at about the right time. :P

[TaleWgnDg]

17. Holy Cripes! That's the machine I first voted on . . . a big

.
Holy Cripes! That's the machine I first voted on . . . a big machine that was taller than me. It had small yes or no pull-down levers as depicted in the photo for each vote and then a very large final pull-down lever like a one-armed-bandit to finalize and enter your cumulative votes (oh, that's b4 ur time 2?).

Anyway, Massachusetts got rid of those damn things years ago. And thanks for the memories.

P.S. My first presidential vote was in 1960 when I cast my ballot for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy">John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Massachusetts, for President. Wow, I couldn't wait to turn 21 and vote for the very first time!

[NYC]

18. We still have those.

Instead of a yes/no option, you pull the little lever to place an X in the box. (No X means you are not voting for that person.)

The "very large final pull-down lever" used to operate the curtains as well, but the curtains broke too often, so they are now disengaged. You pull the large lever to start the vote (which used to close the curtain for privacy), then pull it at the end to record the vote (which used to open the curtain so you could emerge).

Curtains are eternally closed now; you just slip in. I like the machines. No confusion, no questions.

[TaleWgnDg]

20. Yup, that's the one! Those antiques are manufactured in the

1800s, and are easy to manipulate with a lever in the rear of the voting machine which may change the votes. But I do remember them well. Indeed.

[Bunny]

21. So do we.

Our curtains still work, too!

[crispini]

23. My momma took me to vote with her when I was a small girl

and I remember the experience you describe very well. I think that's part of the reason why I wanted this. And I think that's part of the reason why I always, always vote!

Mamas, (and Papas) take your babies into the voting booth with ya! :)

[NYC]

28. What kind of machine do you vote on now?

I like ours. :) I'm really glad you bought that model. How exciting! Really. Even more exciting since any and all chance at unrigged voting may totally evaporate. You'll have an example of a machine that was capable of recording votes honestly.

[crispini]

30. Bubble in the ballot

and run it through the scanner. Shades of standardized testing! :)

And these mechanical guys, from what our elections guy has said, were equally as capable of being toyed with -- you just had to intervene a little more manually. Too bad. :(

[NYC]

19. That is a wonderful acquisition.

Display it proudly.

[VOX]

22. A Diebold Prototype?

:) Maybe we should go back to using these!

This is a very *cool* acquisition, crispini! :thumbsup:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

24. antique?...we still use them in my district....in upstate NY

[Reverend_Smitty]

25. The first time I voted I used one of those too...

and that was in 2002. I haven't voted in person since (all absentee) but I think NJ went all digital this past November...unfortunately

[El Fuego]

26. Wow, what a great score!

Roosevelt, Dewey, Truman! That must be pretty valuable.

Congratulations for a great ebay win!

[Phentex]

27. Very cool! I love the questions.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

29. Hey - I vote on those things in Pennsylvania!

They don't look much newer than that one!

That is seriously cool. I'd stare at it for hours were it mine!