Editor’s Note: Reprinted from the Greenfield Daily Recorder, Nov. 1-3, 1920 (Price Two Cents)
The most important election day in many years comes tomorrow, and the question of who will be the next president of the United States will be settled by the largest vote ever cast in this country. Woman, by means of the granting of equal suffrage a short time ago, will cast her ballot for president and will exercise a very important influence in the result. In many states the vote has been doubled, which will make counting slower than usual and the results may not be fully known until midnight or later. In that respect it will not be greatly different than in 1916, when there was great uncertainty even in the small hours of the morning. Many early editions announced the election of Judge Hughes, only to find when the electoral vote had been complete it determined that President Wilson had been reelected, instead.
The Recorder will use every possible facility to keep the country informed as to the progress of the counting and will announce the final results on the presidential vote as soon as it is determined by the Associated Press. The latest bulletins will arrive during the evening from the Associated Press office at Boston and will be posted upon a large bulletin board on Main Street. A special wire will be run to the board the same as during the World Series and those who gather on the street in front of the board will be sure of prompt service.
The same service will be given to those who desire it by telephone. People may call this office during the evening and every effort will be made to give them the latest news of the election.
The polls opened in Greenfield this morning at 5:45 and in the first hour 265 voters marked and deposited their ballots in the box. There was a rush of men up to 7 o’clock, when the stream of voters diminished. On the woman’s side there were three present before the polls opened. By eight o’clock the feminine portion of the local electorate was very much in evidence and the mild rush continued for an hour. The feminine voters were not so swift in marking their ballots as the men, due to inexperience, but they proved that they can readily adjust themselves to the discharge of the privileges of citizenship. At 8 o’clock the machine registered 1,000 voters; at 10 the record was 2,000 and just before noon the count indicated by the machine was 2,787. The fears of the officials that it would be difficult to handle the large increase of voters was not realized. While there were, at times, a line in waiting, the voters were not held up for any length of time. This was largely due to the excellent arrangements that had been made, which exactly doubled the voting facilities of the hall.
With a total vote of 4,239 cast here at the election yesterday and the polls kept open three hours later than has been the custom hitherto, it is doubtful if the experiment of keeping the polls open until nearly 8 o’clock need be repeated next year. The number of votes cast after 5:30 was negligible. The rush was from 5:45 to 9:30 in the morning and so admirable were the arrangements made for caring for the largely increased vote that there was no undue delay in getting to the ballot box, even when the rush was greatest.
In the first five hours after the polls were opened 2,500 votes were cast. The women acquitted themselves with great credit in exercising the rights of the franchise only recently conferred on their sex. It is probable that their errors in marking the ballot were no greater than those of the other sex. Some few ballots were dropped in the box without a mark, the voter evidently believing that in some mysterious manner his or her vote will be made known.
One woman proceeded in so leisurely a manner while in the booth that 25 minutes elapsed before an official suggested that she had exceeded the time limit by 15 minutes. She expressed regret that more time was not permitted her to finish her voting. A new feature here was the absentee vote. There were 17 ballots of the absentee kind returned but before the polls closed at 7:45, one absentee came in and deposited his ballot in person.
It is not probable that there will be a demand next year for precinct voting in town, as the experience of yesterday proved that with 500 votes handled in an hour precinct voting can be deferred.