With the AEF –
Dixon: Benny likes one-man jobs
By Kenneth L. Dixon
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Hannegan, Roosevelt talk campaign plans
Washington (AP) – (Aug. 19)
Chairman Robert E. Hannegan of the Democratic National Committee discussed fourth-term campaign plans with President Roosevelt for an hour and a half at the White House late today and told newsmen afterward that prospects for a Democratic victory in November were “favorable.”
He would not go beyond that statement and said it was always a problem in every election “to guard against overconfidence and to see that the people register.” He added that a great number of people have moved away from their homes to work in war industries and it was going to take some extended effort to see that they qualify to vote.
The Pittsburgh Press (August 20, 1944)
Hull to open ‘Big Three’ session on security
Optimism prevails in Washington
By R. H. Shackford, United Press staff writer
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No deadline on names for soldier ballot
Earliest notice asked by elections office
There is no deadline on submitting the names of voters in the Armed Forces for military ballots.
But County Elections Director David Olbum yesterday urged the families of servicemen and women to turn in the names promptly to assure ballots being mailed in time to reach voters overseas.
The Elections Department already has a list of almost 90,000 names. Ballots to these voters will be mailed within the next 10 days, although the new State Military Ballot Law fixes Sept. 2 as the deadline.
Earlier the better
However, the Elections Department will mail ballots to all voters in the Armed Forces whose names are received after that date.
Mr. Olbum said the volume of military ballots to be sent overseas might preclude the arrival of ballots before Election Day unless the names of military voters are submitted to the Elections Department now.
Inquiries at the Elections Department in the last week, he said, indicated that many relatives of service voters had the erroneous idea that it was too late to submit names.
Extra staff on job
The only deadline fixed by the law is the one requiring the Elections Department to mail the ballots to all addresses on file no later than Sept. 2 and to mail ballots to additional addresses, received after that date, within 24 hours.
The Elections Department has been working an extra staff addressing envelopes for military ballots. The list of names, which will be posted to the Department when it is completed, is being arranged alphabetically.
Relatives or friends in doubt as to whether the name of any voter in the Armed Forces is listed will be permitted to check this list.
All Pennsylvania voters, regardless of whether they are registered, are eligible for military ballots if they are, or will be, 21 on or before Nov. 8 and are members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps or other armed service, the Merchant Marine, Red Cross Society of Friends, WASPs or the USO in service either overseas or within the United States.
Poll: Four border states favor Roosevelt; Missouri for Dewey
45 commonwealths polled show President leading in 26 having 248 electoral votes
By George Gallup, Director, American Institute of Public Opinion
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Nation warned of forged soldier votes
Faked ballots turn up in Tennessee
Jackson, Mississippi – (Aug. 19)
Stuffing of a ballot box in a Madison County country store with fraudulent absentee soldiers’ ballots Aug. 3 may serve as a warning to the nation of what might happen on a larger scale during the November election.
Farmers of Madison County, aroused over what they describe as “political crooks taking advantage of our boys while they are fighting for our country,” have demanded investigations by the FBI and the Madison County Grand Jury.
Twenty-seven soldier ballots were cast at the Jones store; six have been revealed as forgeries.
Election judge surprised
Two members of the county Democratic Primary Board, Eugene Bond and Robert Davis, brought the ballots to the Jones store. Bond tore open the envelopes and called out the names, it was related by S. T. Patterson, a judge in the Republican primary, which was being held simultaneously.
Mr. Patterson was startled to hear the name of his son, Pharmacist’s Mate Paul Patterson, called out. The young man had been home on leave a week earlier and had said he did not intend to vote, but Mr. Patterson made no protest at the time.
Not in Army
Then Bond called out the name of Gid Patterson. “Gid is my boy and he’s not in the Army,” Mr. Patterson said, “He’s been working in Jackson for three years.”
“Well, we won’t count that one then,” Bond said.
Interviewed later, Gid Patterson said he didn’t even know an election was being held.
When the name of R. T. Collier was called, a bystander spoke up: “He’s a Negro farmhand who’s never been in the Army. He might come here to vote his afternoon.”
‘Tell him he’s voted’
“If he does,” Bond was quoted as saying, “tell him he’s already voted.”
The next day when Collier was asked if he had voted, he replied: “They said I did.”
A ballot was cast for one soldier who had written his father that he had no intention of voting. “I don’t even know who is running for what. That is the least of my worries,” he wrote.
In same handwriting
The clerk of the board said all the ballots were written in pencil all were in the same handwriting and they were folded identically.
A. R. Darden, chairman of the election board, said he would “take full responsibility,” but he refused to permit reporters to see the applications for the absentee ballots.
At another precinct, Bond and Darden cast 125 absentee ballots. Only 32 other votes were cast there.
Candidate works to get blessing from farmer
Lewiston, Idaho (UP) – (Aug. 19)
Glen H. Taylor, Democratic senatorial nominee, told this one on himself today, and showed blistered hands to prove it.
Mr. Taylor stopped to talk with a farmer putting up hay. “You take this pitchfork and follow along and we will talk politics,” said the farmer.
Every time Mr. Taylor started to speak, the farmer said he’d have to wait until after the next load. Mr. Taylor pitched throughout the afternoon.
And not until supper time did the farmer shake the candidate’s hand and give him his blessing.
Japs win medals
San Francisco, California – (Aug. 19)
Japanese-Americans participated in the capture of Saipan, the War Relocation Authority disclosed today in an announcement that six American soldiers of Japanese ancestry had been cited for meritorious service in action there. All received Bronze Star Medals, the WRA said.
Labor attorney says CIO’s Philip Murray is captive of Communists and socialists
Immigrant author warns against infiltration into unions
By William Forrester
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Gallup: Opinion polls are authentic
Founder tells how they work
By Roger H. Wood
In this 1944 election year, there could not have been a more timely book than George Gallup’s A Guide to Public Opinion Polls (Princeton).
Gallup, founder and director of the American Institute of Public Opinion, has given a comprehensive examination of the polls from many different points of view, drawing heavily upon his own personal experiences, but also explaining the work of other polling agencies.
He believes that the polls do show what the people are thinking on vital issues and that his object reporting and analysis of public opinion has helped to speed up the process of democracy. He says that by their very nature, modern sampling polls can and do separate the popularity of candidates from the issues. Polls can report which views of a candidate the public favors and which they reject.
Gallup gives the usual technical details of the polling program. He tells how interviewers are selected and how they are sent out into the field to talk to people, taking precautions to make certain that all classes are interviewed in proper proportion by occupation, by racial and religious groups, by politics and by sex.
For better or worse, public opinion polls are a fixture of American life. There have been 114 election surveys made by the American Institute of Public Opinion since its founding by Gallup in 1935 and since 1940, the average error in the results has been less than 2.5 percent. In the New York state election of 1940, just 200 people were interviewed in one of the polls. A Dewey victory was predicted and the results were within five percent of the actual vote on Election Day.
Gallup also explains the workings of other surveys. Especially interesting is his view on the Literary Digest forecast from the results of millions of mailed ballots of the election of Landon in 1936. The error was 19 percent. Gallup says that the sample was limited largely to the upper half of the voting population and did not catch any trend in sentiment taking place during the last two months of the campaign.
Some may say that the poll predictions influence voters to be on the winning bandwagon. But Gallup says:
There is no general tendency for winning candidates to increase their lead after poll results have been announced.
I DARE SAY —
What do boys in service want? Why, one of Sturges’ grand films
By Florence Fisher Parry
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The path to success… and tragedy –
Stars’ cement marks still No. 1 Hollywood attraction
Movieland history written in concrete of Chinese Theater
By Maxine Garrison
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Hollywood makes bum forecast
Wilson no flop but a smash hit
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Says no evil, does no evil, and everybody likes her!
Unaffected Ingrid Bergman wins studio folks by her charm
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Funny thing about Frank Morgan, his ‘fibs’ are all true
He tells them tall and checking proves he wasn’t kidding at all
By Si Steinhauser
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ODT: Only St. Louisans likely to see World Series games
By Carl Lundquist, United Press staff writer
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Exchange acts to block false market rumors
Heavy speculation in smaller auto companies is believed responsible for warning
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