In which year was the first practical mechanical voting machine introduced and used in an election?

Introduction / Context:
Voting machines are an important part of election technology, designed to make voting faster, more reliable and less prone to counting errors. Long before modern electronic voting machines, mechanical voting devices were introduced to replace paper ballots in some places. This question asks you to identify the year in which the first practical mechanical voting machine was introduced and used in an election, a fact that often appears in general knowledge sections related to political science and technology history.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question is about the first practical voting machine, not about electronic machines used today.
• The device was mechanical and used in an actual election.
• Several years are provided as options: 1892, 1920, 1980 and 1989.
• You need to know which of these years is historically associated with the earliest practical use.

Concept / Approach:
The first practical mechanical voting machine is generally traced back to the late nineteenth century. An important milestone occurred in 1892 in Lockport, New York, where a mechanical voting device was used in a public election. This early machine aimed to reduce fraud and improve the speed of counting. Later years, such as 1920, 1980 or 1989, saw further developments in voting technology, including punch cards and electronics, but they are not the date of the earliest practical machine. Therefore, identifying 1892 as the year of the first significant practical use is essential for answering this question correctly.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recognise that voting machines did not suddenly appear with modern electronics; mechanical devices existed earlier.Step 2: Recall that the first practical voting machine used in an election is associated with the late nineteenth century rather than the twentieth century.Step 3: Among the options, 1892 is the only nineteenth century date and matches historical references to the Lockport election.Step 4: Note that 1920, 1980 and 1989 refer to later stages in voting technology development and cannot be the first.Step 5: Select 1892 as the correct year of introduction and use of the first practical voting machine.

Verification / Alternative check:
If you study the timeline of election technology, you will see that paper ballots dominated early systems, then mechanical lever machines were introduced in the late nineteenth century, followed by punch card systems and finally fully electronic machines in the late twentieth century. Articles or exam guides that describe this evolution almost always mention 1892 as the year a mechanical voting device was first successfully used in an official election in the United States. This consistency across sources supports the answer.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
The year 1920 is too late to be the first instance of a mechanical voting machine, since such machines were already in use by that time. The years 1980 and 1989 relate more to the era of computerised or electronic voting technologies and cannot describe the first practical mechanical device. Therefore, these dates are included only as distractors for candidates who assume voting machines are purely modern inventions.

Common Pitfalls:
Many students mistakenly assume that voting machines must have appeared during the computer age and are tempted to choose dates like 1980 or 1989. Others ignore the word first and think about when machines became common in their own country, which can be much later. To avoid such confusion, it helps to remember that technological history often begins earlier than everyday experience suggests, and mechanical versions of many devices existed long before electronic versions.

Final Answer:
The first practical mechanical voting machine was introduced and used in an election in 1892.