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The secret ballot is a process in elections where the choice of the voters is kept confidential. The basic purpose of this process is to allow the voter to record their choice without intimidation.
The system is one means of achieving the goal of political privacy. Secret ballots are suitable for many different voting systems.
The system provides for pre-printed ballot papers listing the name of each candidate together with a box next to each name for the voter to record his/her voting preference. Provision is made at the voting place for the voter to record his/her preference in secret. These ballot papers are then placed in sealed boxes, later emptied for counting.
The practice was pioneered in the former Australian colony, now state of South Australia in the early 1850's. Today the practice is so commonplace that most voters would not consider that any other method might be used. Although the colony of Victoria enacted legislation for secret ballots on March 19 1856, credit is generally given to South Australian Electoral Commissioner William Boothby for creating the system finally enacted into law in South Australia on April 2 of that same year (two weeks later).
In the United States the practice is known by the name "Australian ballot". The first President of the United States elected under the Australian ballot was president Grover Cleveland in 1892. Elections in the United States are now almost always held by secret ballot, with party nominating caucuses in some states--most significantly the leadoff Presidential nominating state of Iowa--requiring an open casting of ballots. A Pennsylvania state legislator long active in election reform issues, Rep. Mark B. Cohen of Philadelphia, said "The secret ballot guarantees that it is one's private opinion that counts. Open ballots are not truly free for those whose preferences defy the structures of power or friendship."
United Kingdom
The UK secret ballot arrangements are sometimes criticised because it is theoretically possible to link a ballot paper to the voter that cast it. Each ballot paper is individually numbered and each elector has a number. When an elector is given a ballot paper, their number is noted down on the counterfoil of the ballot paper (which also carries the ballot paper number).
This measure is justified as a security arrangement so that if there was an allegation of fraud, false ballot papers could be identified. The process of matching ballot papers to voters is only permissible if an Elections Court requires it, and this is an extremely unlikely occurrence.
Chronology of Introduction
- March 19 1856 - Victoria, Australia
- April 2 1856 - South Australia
- 1858 - New South Wales and Tasmania
- 1859 - Queensland
- 1870 - New Zealand
- 1872 - United Kingdom
- 1874 - Canada
- 1877 - Western Australia
- 1888 - Massachusetts
- 1892 - United States of America