The history of election ballots and voting machines is a lesson in ingenuity.
The humble election ballot has a rich history – starting with the ballota, or “small colored ball” voters dropped into a candidate’s clay pot and which gives our modern ballots their names. The first lever voting machine debuted in New York in 1892. The machine used a mechanical lever, assigned to each candidate. Voters pulled the lever for the desired candidate, and the machine reordered each vote, along with the total number of people who voted. These machines were the most popular way to vote until the 1960s, and they were even used as late as the 1992 US Presidential Election.
Several museums around the world include ballot boxes or voting machines in their permanent collections – testaments to democracy, and innovation, at work.
What does all this come to? Voting is now open for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for 2011! Comics professionals can vote by mail or online.
The following working comic industry professionals are eligible to vote in the Eisner Awards:
- Comic book/graphic novel/webcomic creators (writers, artists, cartoonists, pencillers, inkers, letterers, colorists)
- All nominees in any category
- Comic book/graphic novel publishers and editors
- Comics historians and educators
- Graphic novel librarians
- Owners and managers of comic book specialty retail stores
A downloadable pdf of the ballot is available at the Comic-Con website, and online voting is possible at www.eisnervote.com.
The deadline for voting is June 13. The results of voting will be announced in a gala ceremony on Friday night, July 22, during Comic-Con International: San Diego.
May we recommend our book Finding Frank and His Friend in the category Best Graphic Album – New…?
