Thread Number: 81967
/ Tag: Other Home Products or Autos
Industrial Products from Jamestown, NY: Voting Machines |
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Post# 1059875   2/7/2020 at 13:07 (1,537 days old) by Blackstone (Springfield, Massachusetts)   |   | |
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These mechanical voting machines were manufactured in Jamestown, NY; same city in which Blackstone products were made. The voter would move a big lever sideways to close a curtain. There were rows of small levers. The voter would push down on a particular lever to cast a vote for that person. When finished voting, move the big lever back into its original position, which would both open the curtain and reset the levers.
I remember using these machines for voting here in Springfield. The system was replaced by paper ballots about 20 years ago.
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Post# 1059881 , Reply# 1   2/7/2020 at 13:58 (1,537 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)   |   | |
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permanent damage"? |
Post# 1059904 , Reply# 2   2/7/2020 at 18:58 (1,537 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))   |   | |
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Post# 1059954 , Reply# 3   2/8/2020 at 09:36 (1,536 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI )   |   | |
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Post# 1059979 , Reply# 4   2/8/2020 at 15:40 (1,536 days old) by Blackstone (Springfield, Massachusetts)   |   | |
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Post# 1060001 , Reply# 5   2/8/2020 at 19:28 (1,536 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))   |   | |
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Post# 1060065 , Reply# 6   2/9/2020 at 09:59 (1,535 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT)   |   | |
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was once the 2nd largest furniture manufacturing center in the US, behind Grand Rapids Michigan, until most of the industry moved South to NC &c, and then, unfortunately, much of it now to China and Vietnam. Crawford Furniture, since 1883, was the last hold out in Jamestown, and closed the last of their 3 factories there about 8 years ago. We have several of Crawford's solid maple bedroom pieces and it is very well made furniture, on par with Ethan Allen. This article was written just a couple of years before Crawford closed, just one more sad example of misguided US industrial policy:
www.wnylabortoday.com/new... |
Post# 1060145 , Reply# 7   2/10/2020 at 10:30 (1,534 days old) by Blackstone (Springfield, Massachusetts)   |   | |
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I have this table, manufactured by Elite Furniture, Jamestown, NY. The newspaper ad is from May 1954 (the year I was born). Apparently, my father got the table as part of a sales promotion for Blackstone appliances in his store, and saved the table.
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Post# 1060175 , Reply# 8   2/10/2020 at 15:54 (1,534 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI )   |   | |
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Post# 1060297 , Reply# 9   2/11/2020 at 17:06 (1,533 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)   |   | |
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I recall these--or something similar--used when I was growing up. My elementary school was used as a polling place, so I remember those machines showing up every so often for an election in the late 70s/early 80s. I'm not sure when they stopped using them--1990s sometime, I think.
I like the idea of the machines recording the data on paper. There is a lot to be said for a paper trail when it comes to elections. It may not be 100% guaranteed accurate and secure, but it's probably the best hope we have.
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Post# 1060370 , Reply# 10   2/12/2020 at 13:55 (1,532 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI )   |   | |
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Our neighborhood elementary school was the polling place when I was a kid. The voting machines were set up on the north end of the gym, and the cafeteria tables on the south end. My great-aunt Adela was a poll worker in our precinct. When she would take her lunch break she would come and sit with me. I felt so special. She always smelled of Avon Cotillion perfume. |
Post# 1060387 , Reply# 11   2/12/2020 at 17:06 (1,532 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)   |   | |
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One thing I wonder about is what the investment was like to buy these machines. And whether in retrospect that investment was worth it. (One of the big issues I see is how they'd have counted the votes recorded on the paper roll. If it was done by another machine in the auditor's office, it would potentially long term save money in requiring fewer election workers. And it would have better accuracy. But if the votes were still added up by hand, there wouldn't be those cost savings.)
As I said, these machines probably vanished in my area during the 1990s. I recall a move to paper ballots, and there was at least one election when they had some machine to take the ballots. I don't know that the machine actually counted the votes at all, but it check to make sure the ballot was acceptable. If the machine took the ballot, you know your vote would be counted.
I wonder if part of the reason for the machines going away in my area was partly due to increased voting by mail (which eventually became the standard).
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Post# 1061332 , Reply# 13   2/23/2020 at 08:42 (1,521 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI )   |   | |
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