County Auditors (in larger counties) County Commissioners (in counties not under township organization and in Cook county) Township officers Supervisor (also assistant supervisors in larger towns) Assessor Justices of the Peace. Highway Commissioner City officers (under Cities and Villages Act) Mayor City Clerk City Treasurer City Attorney Judge of City Court (in some cities) Village officers Trustees Clerk Police magistrates School officers School trustees School directors or members of boards of education. Omitting judges and local officers elected at other times, the voters throughout Illinois are called on at the quadrennial November election to vote for about 20 state and local officers, and in addition for 29 presidential electors, a total of about 50. The ballots at these elections regularly have the names of 100 to 150 candidates for state and local offices; and, including candidates for presidential electors, have from 200 to 250 names. A typical ballot for a down-state district in 1916 contained the names of 222 candidates for 49 offices. In Chicago and Cook County there are twice as many state and local officials to be elected as in other counties. In addition to the usual state and county officers, there are several additional court clerks, 15 county commissioners and 10 municipal court judges chosen at the general November elections; and at the judicial elections there are now 40 circuit and superior court judges to be chosen in Cook County. In November, 1916 each male voter in Chicago was expected to vote for 71 different officials; and in November, 1918 for 55. In Cook County, outside of Chicago, each male voter was asked to vote for 61 officials in 1916 and for 35 in 1918. In a period of nine years, each male voter in Chicago is called on to vote for 149 elective officers. and the total number of elective officials voted for in Chicago (excluding presidential electors) is 425.* The largest ballots in Illinois are thus to be found in the City of Chicago. In November, 1906, the ballot measured two feet and two inches by eighteen and one-half inches, and contained 334 names. of candidates. At the election in November, 1912, when 57 officials were to be elected (or 86 including the presidential electors) there were six party tickets containing in one district 279 candidates for public office and 174 candidates for presidential electors, a total of 433 names on the ballot. At the primary election in 1914, there were 382 candidates for 51 positions on the democratic ballot in one district. There were 19 candidates for State Treasurer, and 148 candidates for the 10 county commissioners to be elected in the city. See pamphlet on Chicago and Cook County. III. THE BALLOT IN OTHER STATES AND COUNTRIES. Long Ballot States. Most of the American states now have a numerous list of elective officers and a long ballot; but in few of them is the list of officers on the ballot so long as in Illinois. The number of elective state, district and county officers in some of the larger states is shown in the following table: a Compiled from table in Massachusetts Constitutional Convention Bulletin No. 10. These figures show the normal number of officials to be voted for by each voter, and do not take into account the special conditions in particular districts. It will be noted that the number of elective state officers in Pennsylvania and Ohio is smaller than in the other states. In Pennsylvania, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Attorney General and Superintendent of Public Instruction are appointed by the Governor. On the other hand, the number of elective county officers in California and Missouri is unusually large, and in New York and Texas is comparatively small. But none of these can be considered a short ballot state; and most of the other states have a similar list of elective offi cers. A few illustrations may be cited of long ballots in some of these states. At the generai election in 1908, the ballot in Cleveland, Ohio, contained the names of 391 candidates for 45 offices,-not including the 23 presidential electors. In 1910, there were 210 candidates for 42 positions. In 1911, there were 324 candidates of the two principal parties at the primary election, and 132 candidates on four tickets for 40 offices at the final election in November. In 1916 there were 231 candidates for 58 offices. One of the longest lists of names on an election ballot was that in a New York city democratic primary, before the introduction of The Need of a Short Ballot for Ohio, p. 8. the direct primary, which contained 835 names of candidates for delegates to nominating conventions." Shorter Ballot States and Cities: Some states, however, have a smaller number of elective officers and a shorter ballot than is the general rule in the United States. The most notable instances are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Vermont. In Massachusetts, all the judges are appointive, and there are comparatively few elective county officials. Town elections and city elections come at a different date from the state and national elections. Nevertheless there are six state officers elected at large, eight councillors elected by districts, seven elective county officers; and with members of the state legislature and congress, there are about twenty state and local officials to be elected,-about twelve at one election,besides presidential electors every fourth year. State officers have been elected every year; but by constitutional amendment adopted in 1918, they will be chosen for two year terms beginning in 1920, thus reducing the number of elections. Connecticut and Vermont have each six elective state officers; in Vermont there are five elective county officers and in Connecticut only two. Including members of the legislature, there are ten elective officers in Connecticut and thirteen in Vermont, other than municipal officials. In Rhode Island there are five elective state officials; but the two county officials (sheriff and court clerk) are appointed, so that including members of the legislature there are only seven officials to be voted for at a general state election. In four states the governor is the only state executive officer elected at large. Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Tennessee. In addition there are elected from five to eight county officers and members of the legislature; in New Hampshire also five members of the council elected by districts; and in Tennessee judges of the supreme, circuit and chancery courts. In New Jersey, the two most important counties each elect a number of members of the legislature on a general ticket; and this makes a distinctly long ballot in these counties. C. A. Beard: The Ballot's Burden, in Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 24, p. (1909). 601. The somewhat smaller list of elective officers in Massachusetts perhaps explains in part why the official ballot in that state has been from the beginning made up on the "office group" rather than the "party column" plan. Under this arrangement each voter must mark each candidate for whom he wishes to vote, and can not by a single mark be counted as voting for a party ticket. But even in Massachusetts, the number of votes for the less important offices shows a marked reduction from that for the principal offices, indicating that many voters find they have no opinion on the merits of candidates for the minor offices. On the other hand, with the office group ballot, a larger proportion of voters express their personal preference as between different candidates, instead of voting for party tickets as a whole. A study of the extent of "split ticket" voting in 1901 showed that in states where each candidate had to be separately marked on the ballot, the percentage of split tickets ranged from 11.87 in Rhode Island and 15 in Massa |