t the coming election he intends to support at least a majority of its
nominees. In this method little freedom is left to the voter who wishes
to participate as an independent both in the primaries and in the
general election.

The New York plan is more rigorous. Here, in all cities, the voter
enrolls his name on his party's lists when he goes to register for
the coming election. He receives a ballot upon which are the following
words: "I am in general sympathy with the principles of the party which
I have designated by my mark hereunder; it is my intention to support
generally at the next general election, state and national, the nominees
of such party for state and national offices; and I have not enrolled
with or participated in any primary election or convention of any other
party since the first day of last year." On this enrollment blank he
indicates the party of his choice, and the election officials deposit
all the ballots, after sealing them in envelopes, in a special box. At a
time designated by law, these seals are broken and the party enrollment
is compiled from them. These party enrollment books are public
records. Everyone who cares may consult the lists. The advantages of
secrecy--such as they are--are thus not secured.

It remained for Wisconsin, the experimenting State, to find a way of
insuring secrecy. Here, when the voter goes to the primary, he is handed
a large ballot, upon which all the party nominations are printed. The
different party tickets are separated by perforations, so that the voter
simply tears out the party ticket he wishes to vote, marks it, and puts
it in the box. The rejected tickets he deposits in a large waste basket
provided for the discards.

While the party was being fenced in by legal definition, its machinery,
the intricate hierarchy of committees, was subjected to state scrutiny
with the avowed object of ridding the party of ring rule. The State
Central Committee is the key to the situation. To democratize this
committee is a task that has severely tested the ingenuity of the State,
for the inventive capacity of the professional politician is prodigious.
The devices to circumvent the politician are so numerous and various
that only a few types can be selected to illustrate how the State is
carrying out its determination. Illinois has provided perhaps the most
democratic method. In each congressional district, the voters, at the
regular party primaries, choose the member of