The specific purpose of these was to provide lighting at polling places before electric lighting was available. They were a part of kits that included pipe frames to construct voting booths. The post on the fount bottom would be inserted into a vertical pipe, or the lantern could be hung from the extended bail. I have only seen 8 in the last six years, and never one with any point-of-origin markings. The market value is in the $50 to $200 range depending on age and condition.
You probably have the Blizzard-based polling lantern and you can see pics of the 1902-1904 model and the 1918 model here in the archives if you do a search for VOTING. How your lantern compares to these two will give you an idea of the date it was made; however, we can be the most helpful if you will provide a picture.