The Wasp — 1890 — page 171: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon illustrates corruption in U.S. electoral systems. The central figure appears to be a federal officer or politician engaged in ballot manipulation—specifically, the accompanying article discusses how corrupt officials could substitute blank papers for actual ballots, allowing them to control voting outcomes without detection. The cartoon depicts the scheme's mechanics: a dishonest election official secretly replaces legitimate ballots with blanks, then marks votes as desired. The text argues this fraud undermines democratic principles and calls for reforms like numbered ballot stubs to prevent such corruption. The satire targets the brazen illegality and the assumption that average voters would remain powerless to detect such deception—exposing how federal officials exploited their positions to undermine fair elections.