Norwood to Test Computer Voting System for Upcoming Town Meeting Election Involving All 202 Seats—October 27, 1975

Mass Town Meeting Election Triggers Massive Ballot with 200–300 Candidates

Norwood’s town meeting members are facing an unexpected campaign trail this January. Although most members were not scheduled to stand for reelection until 1976 or 1977, a newly proposed reapportionment plan means all 202 town meeting seats will be up for grabs simultaneously.

Drawn up by a special committee chaired by Atty. Philip Riley, the redistricting plan seeks to give residents across Norwood’s nine districts an equal voice by reshuffling representative quotas while keeping the total membership at 202. Because the entire body is being replaced at once, the ballot forms will feature between 200 and 300 names, posing a logistical hurdle given that standard ballot cards only accommodate 256 spaces.

Town Clerk Bartley Connolly Arranges Rental of Electronic Voting Machines

To prevent a marathon counting session, Town Clerk Bartley Connolly secured a $10,000 appropriation to rent computerized voting devices from the Electronic Voting Machine Corp. of Newton, a system already utilized by 28 Massachusetts municipalities.

While neighboring Dedham—which has used the system for two years—noted that absentee ballots and write-ins still require manual tabulation, Connolly welcomed the trial under high-pressure conditions: “It’ll be a good test of the machines. If they can’t do it, I don’t think I’ll be that keen to buy them.” If the equipment successfully accelerates processing for the January town elections and March Presidential primary, Connolly plans to ask the town to purchase them outright.

Because the punched-card ballots must be tabulated rapidly, company officials suggested partnering with local corporations equipped with mainframe computers—such as Northrop, Masoneilan, or Factory Mutual—to donate machine time for the evening. Voting machine technicians will handle programming and oversight, while town officials will verify accuracy by casting test votes before the polls close.

(photo: Votomatic, verifiedvoting.org)

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger