Description:

This ballot box was used for Pelham Elections.  It is currently unknown when this particular Ballot Box was in use.

Pelham discontinued using this style ballot box in the late 1990's, replaced with an electronic Optical Scanning Machine.  This  was primarly motivated by the amount of time required by poll workers to count and double check the hand written ballots, as well as future state and national regulations.

The Acme Ballot Box was another effort to prevent voter fraud. Invented around 1880 in Bridgewater Connecticut, the Acme significantly improved on the standard open-slot box. It included a counter activated by the crank lever mechanism. Turning the lever advanced the counter, released the ballot into the locked box, and provided poll overseers with an exact count of the number ballots cast that they could compare to a register of voters. source National American Museum.