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Methods of Voting in the United States Congress

Page from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 27, 1869, with five vignettes titled, “Methods of Voting in the United States Congress.- From Sketches by James E. Taylor,-See Page 23.” The first print shows a blindfolded Page handing a slip of paper from a box to a man on the rostrum, captioned, “Distribution of seats by ballot to the Members of the 41st congress, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C., March 5th.” The second print shows the Speaker standing on the rostrum, holding up a stick, captioned, “The Speaker of the House Counting the yeas and nays.” The third print shows the Clerk on the rostrum, captioned, “The Clerk of the House Calling the Roll, and Assistant Keeping Tally.” The fourth shows Members standing in front of desks, two of them with index fingers raised, captioned, “Representatives acting as tellers in the House.” The fifth print shows a group of men in hats leaving a building and walking past a crowd of people and children, captioned, “The Inauguration-Departure of Gen. Grant from the Army Headquarters, on His Way to the Capitol, Washington D.C., March 4th, from a Sketch by Jas. E. Taylor-see Page 27.”/tiles/collection/6/6155.xml
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Close up of print showing a blindfolded Page handing a slip of paper from a box to a man on the rostrum, captioned, “Distribution of seats by ballot to the Members of the 41st congress, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C., March 5th.”/tiles/collection/6/6156.xml
Download this image
Close up of print showing the Speaker standing on the rostrum, holding up a baton, captioned, “The Speaker of the House Counting the yeas and nays.”/tiles/collection/6/6157.xml
Download this image
Close up of print showing the Clerk on the rostrum, captioned, “The Clerk of the House Calling the Roll, and Assistant Keeping Tally.”/tiles/collection/6/6153.xml
Download this image
Close up of print showing Members standing in front of desks, two of them with index fingers raised, captioned, “Representatives acting as tellers in the House."/tiles/collection/6/6154.xml
Download this image
Page from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, March 27, 1869, with five vignettes titled, “Methods of Voting in the United States Congress.- From Sketches by James E. Taylor,-See Page 23.” The first print shows a blindfolded Page handing a slip of paper from a box to a man on the rostrum, captioned, “Distribution of seats by ballot to the Members of the 41st congress, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C., March 5th.” The second print shows the Speaker standing on the rostrum, holding up a stick, captioned, “The Speaker of the House Counting the yeas and nays.” The third print shows the Clerk on the rostrum, captioned, “The Clerk of the House Calling the Roll, and Assistant Keeping Tally.” The fourth shows Members standing in front of desks, two of them with index fingers raised, captioned, “Representatives acting as tellers in the House.” The fifth print shows a group of men in hats leaving a building and walking past a crowd of people and children, captioned, “The Inauguration-Departure of Gen. Grant from the Army Headquarters, on His Way to the Capitol, Washington D.C., March 4th, from a Sketch by Jas. E. Taylor-see Page 27.”
Close up of print showing a blindfolded Page handing a slip of paper from a box to a man on the rostrum, captioned, “Distribution of seats by ballot to the Members of the 41st congress, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C., March 5th.”
Close up of print showing the Speaker standing on the rostrum, holding up a baton, captioned, “The Speaker of the House Counting the yeas and nays.”
Close up of print showing the Clerk on the rostrum, captioned, “The Clerk of the House Calling the Roll, and Assistant Keeping Tally.”
Close up of print showing Members standing in front of desks, two of them with index fingers raised, captioned, “Representatives acting as tellers in the House."
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Date

1869-03-27

Artist

James Earl Taylor

Publication

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

Publisher

Frank Leslie

Dimensions

15 3/8 x 10 5/8 in. (39.1 x 27 cm)

Accession Number

2009.129.005

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

This unusual illustration shows four different House floor processes: the seat distribution lottery and three types of voting. The first vignette depicts the seat assignment lottery, with a blindfolded Page drawing the ballots. The others illustrate a voice vote, where the Speaker counts the “yays” and “nays;” a roll call vote, in which the Clerk goes through the roll and each vote is recorded; and the teller vote, for which Members pass those acting as tellers and give them their votes.

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