On this day in 1899, Congress approved the use of mechanical voting machines for federal elections. Over the course of the 20th century, the machines gained in popularity. Above, Horace Curry in the town hall of Hyde Park, New York, preparing the polls where Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt was to vote later that day, November 3, 1932.
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Image: AP.
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Rebecca J. Rosen is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where she oversees coverage of American constitutional law and government in the Battle for the Constitution series.