Inlaid Masonic Ballot Box
This is the
box in which the ballots or little balls or cubes used in voting for a
candidate are deposited. It should be divided into two compartments, one of
which is to contain both black and white balls, from which each member selects
one, and the other, which is shielded by a partition provided with an
aperture, to receive the ball that is to be deposited. Various methods have
been devised by which secrecy may be secured, so that a voter may select and
deposit the ball he desires without the possibility of its being seen whether
it is black or white. That which has been most in use in the United States
is to have the aperture so covered by a part of the box as to prevent the hand
from being seen when the ball is deposited.
In balloting for a candidate for
initiation, every member is expected to vote. No one can be excused from
sharing the responsibility of admission or rejection, except by the unanimous
consent of the Lodge. Where a member has himself no personal or acquired
knowledge of the qualifications of the candidate, he is bound to give faith to
the recommendation of his Brethren of the investigating committee, who, he is
to presume, would not make a favorable report on the petition of an unworthy
applicant. The most correct method in balloting for candidates is as
follows: The committee of investigation having reported, the Master of the
Lodge directs the Senior Deacon to prepare the ballot-box. The mode in which
this is accomplished is as follows: The Senior Deacon takes the ballot-box,
and, opening it, places all the white and black balls indiscriminately in one
compartment, leaving the other entirely empty. He then proceeds with the box
to the Junior and Senior Wardens, who satisfy themselves by an inspection that
no ball has been left in the compartment in which the votes are to be
deposited. These officers having thus satisfied themselves that the box is in
a proper condition for the reception of the ballots, it is then placed upon
the altar by the Senior Deacon, who retires to his seat. The Brethren then
form a line west of the altar and the one at the head advancing separately
from the rest to deposit his ballot when the preceding brother leaves the box.
The Master having inquired of the Wardens if all have voted, then orders the
Senior Deacon to "take charge of the ballot-box." That officer accordingly
repairs to the altar, and takes possession of the box. Should the Senior
Deacon be already in possession of the box, as in other methods of balloting,
then the announcement by the Master may be "I therefore declare the ballot
closed." In either case the Senior Deacon carries it, as before, to the
Junior Warden, who examines the ballot, and reports, if all the balls are
white, that "the box is clear in the South," or, if there is one or
more black balls, that "the box is foul or dark in the South." The
Deacon then carries it to the Senior Warden, and afterwards to the Master,
who, of course, make the same report, according to the circumstance, with the
necessary verbal variations of "West" and "East." If the box is clear--that
is, if all the ballots are white--the master then announces that the applicant
has been duly elected, and the Secretary makes a record of the fact. But if
the box is foul or dark, the Master inspects the number of black
balls or cubes; if he finds only one, he so states the fact to the Lodge, and
orders the Senior Deacon again to prepare the ballot-box and the process is
repeated. If again one black ball or cube be found, or if two or more
appeared on the first ballot, the Master announces that the petition of the
applicant has been rejected, and directs the usual record to be made by the
Secretary and the notification to be given to the Grand Lodge. Balloting for
membership or affiliation is subject to the same rules. In both cases
"previous notice, one month before," must be given to the Lodge, "due inquiry
into the reputation and capacity of the candidate" must be made, and "the
unanimous consent of all the members then present" must be obtained.
