ALSO in '64, soldiers voted in MANY camps either in a box marked:
PRESIDENT LINCOLN
or a box marked:
other candidates.
AND the ballots were DIFFERENT COLORS, too.
REALLY FAIR, secret ballot!!!!
almost as fair as the typical Chicago election.
free dixie,sw
free dixie NOW,sw
Amazing the election was as close as it was. Weren't there also allegations that union soldiers voted in camps, and were released to vote at home as well?
During the Civil War, large numbers of Marylanders were disqualified from voting because of their refusal to take a "loyal oath" or because of their southern sympathies.25 *** Prior to 1890 the individual voter, candidates or political parties provided a ballot which led to a various election day tactics such as colored ballots, striped ballots, and shingle ballots.25. From one-third to two-thirds of Maryland voters are estimated to have been potentially disfranchised by the loyalty requirements specified by Section 4 of Article 1 of the 1864 Constitution of Maryland. For an insight on the impact of Maryland voting, see Wm. A. Russ, "Disfranchisement in Maryland (1861-67)," Maryland Historical Magazine, December 1933, Vol. 28, pp. 309-328.
Extracted from from J.T. Willis,Presidential Elections in Maryland (pp. 3-4, 8-9 of the original edition as revised for the 2001 edition), Maryland SOS website
It wasn't Florida and people could read then. Do you get confused by different colors? lol