1914 activists: schools "orderly and commodious polling places"

This week we asked you to share your experiences with voting at your neighborhood school. But schools haven’t always been polling places. In 1914, New Yorkers had to vote in delis, noodle shops, undertakers’ offices, and other “dingy, inconvenient shops,” the New York Times reported. But some New Yorkers wanted that to change, arguing that moving voting booths to schools and other public places would save the city money, model citizenship for children, and clean up elections, both literally and figuratively.