BALLOTING HEAVY IN DISTRICT
1940 records likely to fall in county
Both parties pleased with huge turnout
By Kermit McFarland
Voting throughout Allegheny County was uniformly heavy today as Pennsylvania electors took the center of the stage in the nation’s second wartime election in history.
The turnout of voters by early afternoon was exceptionally big, in many cases surpassing the vote at the same stage of the polling four years ago.
Some political leaders said they believed the record turnout of 1940 would be broken by the time the polls close at 8:00 p.m. EWT.
Both sides pleased
The extraordinary outpouring of voters held up in both industrial and residential areas, indicating an equal interest in the election by both sides of the political fence.
Both the Republican and Democratic headquarters were highly pleased with the turnout.
On the South Side, for instance, 20 percent of the registered vote had been polled shortly after 10:00 a.m.
Mt. Lebanon and Dormont districts reported the voters were streaming to the polls at the rate of a hundred an hour.
In a Brookline district, they were voting at the rate of more than two a minute.
Similar reports were obtained from representative districts throughout the county.
Women urged to vote early
In the mill districts, party workers concentrated on getting women voters to the polls before 3:00 p.m. when the heavy turnout of industrial workers was expected to begin.
Except for a mix-up over registration cards for voters who changed addresses recently, there were no reports of disturbances or serious confusion. Two additional telephones were installed at the Pittsburgh Registration Commission to handle complaints from voters whose cards had been mistakenly sent to the wrong polling places.
Twenty State Police were assigned here for possible emergencies, They had seen no action early this afternoon.
The police, under Capt. A. J. Hudak of the Greensburg Barracks, made their headquarters in the office of Sheriff Robert J. Corbett.
With fair, mild weather favoring the voter turnout, the polls were opened at 7:00 a.m. Long queues of electors already were on hand in most districts to cast their ballots.
Poll workers from the rival political parties turned out in droves at an early hour. Democratic and Republican organization forces were augmented in some districts by representatives of the C1O Political Action Committee.
The big job of the day was to get out the vote and both sides believed a heavy turnout would benefit their cause.
The courts will be open until 10:00 p.m. to hear election complaints.
Two judges, John J. Kennedy and William H. McNaugher, have been assigned to make themselves available for court action if necessary during the night while the count is proceeding.
State registration high
More than 4,600,000 Pennsylvania voters are registered, not including thousands in the armed forces who were sent military ballots without the formality of registering. More than 640,000 were sent military ballots and some 220,000 have already been returned, although the deadline is not until Nov. 22.
Upwards of 80 percent of the registered vote was expected at Pennsylvania’s 8,208 polling places. In Allegheny County, there were 1,024 polling places to accommodate an expected voter turnout which might reach nearly 650,000.
At stake are Pennsylvania’s 35 votes in the Electoral College on which many political observers believe the national election may hinge.
11th-hour appeals made
Four years ago, President Roosevelt carried the state by 261,000 over the late Wendell L. Willkie, Republican candidate. This plurality was exactly identical to the combined pluralities Mr. Roosevelt received in Allegheny County and Philadelphia.
Last-minute appeals to the voters were delivered by party leaders and candidates last night, the principal speeches in Pennsylvania being those of the two head men, Democratic State Chairman David L. Lawrence and Governor Edward Martin, speaking for the Republicans.
Mr. Martin said:
If the New Dealers are returned to power, there is no reason to believe they will not resume with new fury their bitter and vicious attacks upon the American enterprise system. There is every reason to believe they will. They want to “make America over.” They have said so again and again and again.
GOP ‘lies’ denounced
Predicting the state today would “break the back of the Dewey campaign,” Mr. Lawrence charged the Republicans have thrown into this “Roosevelt fortress every weapon they could find.”
Republican lies have been more vicious and more shameless here. Republican newspapers have been deeper dipped in venom here. Republican money has been raised – and spent – more lavishly here.
Mr. Lawrence said Pennsylvania is recognized as a “pivotal, crucial” state and that Mr. Dewey “cannot hope to win without it.”
Martin hits ‘ballot slackers’
Governor Martin urged every voter to go to the polls.
He said:
A ballot slacker is not a true patriot. By his actions, he shows that he does not Care what becomes of his country. Too much depends upon the results of tomorrow’s election for any man or women who is able to go to the polls to neglect that duty and that responsibility.
Only the ballot slackers can defeat the party of Americanism. Remember: The stay-at-home vote defeated Wendell Willkie in 1940.
