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About LinkBacksThe secret ballot is not that old a tradition in the US. Through most of the 19th century, the parties printed ballots and voters were obliged to take one party's ballot, with all that party's candidates' names on it, and drop that paper publicly into the ballot box (usually at a livery stable or a tavern selected for that purpose). The ballots were generally different colors and voters were expected to announce loudly their support for one party or the other.
This practice changed between 1884 and 1891, when the secret ballot was introduced. Voters received a ballot created at public expense and distributed only at the polling place. It had every candidate's name, regardless of party, and it was to be completed privately. This resulted from a practice among post-Civil War Republicans called 'scratching,' whereby they would vote their party's line, but scratch out the names of one or more candidates they found unacceptable (usually due to corruption), possibly allowing the other party's candidate to win the election for that office.
So here's the quickie: Where did the secret ballot come from? The first record of a secret ballot is in the 1895 constitution of France, but France had relatively few elections after that. It was one of the six proposals of the "Chartist" movement in early 19th century Britain, but it was not adopted there. The American custom was imported from another place that had adopted the secret ballot in about 1850. What was it?
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16th December 2011 08:27 PM #1Senior Member
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Rasselas's Secret Ballot Quickie (Ding! Jackalope)
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...#ixzz1mzxuiVUmEven when alternative views are clearly wrong, being exposed to them still expands our creative potential. In a way, the power of dissent is the power of surprise. After hearing someone shout out an errant answer, we work to understand it, which causes us to reassess our initial assumptions and try out new perspectives. “Authentic dissent can be difficult, but it’s always invigorating,” Nemeth says.
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17th December 2011 04:52 AM #2Library Administrator
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Originally Posted by Rasselas
Hmmmmmmmmm.....
Canada?
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17th December 2011 07:30 AM #3Sumo Kitty
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spain
GO VOLS
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17th December 2011 09:35 AM #4Senior Member
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Originally Posted by jackalope
No and no. I don't know when Canada got the secret ballot, but I'm pretty sure Spaniards didn't vote until like 1974. Originally Posted by mtm1963
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...#ixzz1mzxuiVUmEven when alternative views are clearly wrong, being exposed to them still expands our creative potential. In a way, the power of dissent is the power of surprise. After hearing someone shout out an errant answer, we work to understand it, which causes us to reassess our initial assumptions and try out new perspectives. “Authentic dissent can be difficult, but it’s always invigorating,” Nemeth says.
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18th December 2011 03:25 AM #5Library Administrator
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18th December 2011 04:06 AM #6Sumo Kitty
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any hints @Rasselas .
GO VOLS
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18th December 2011 08:46 AM #7Senior Member
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Chartism was really popular in this country because Chartism was about eliminating the distinctions between socioeconomic classes in Britain. This country was to a large extent the result of distinctions between socioeconomic classes in Britain.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...#ixzz1mzxuiVUmEven when alternative views are clearly wrong, being exposed to them still expands our creative potential. In a way, the power of dissent is the power of surprise. After hearing someone shout out an errant answer, we work to understand it, which causes us to reassess our initial assumptions and try out new perspectives. “Authentic dissent can be difficult, but it’s always invigorating,” Nemeth says.
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18th December 2011 09:35 AM #8Library Administrator
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hmmmm.
Australia?
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18th December 2011 09:49 AM #9Senior Member
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Ding! Ding! I was called the "Australian Ballot" when adopted in the US. Imagine what it would be like to vote by shouting your preference in a bar, the way your great, great, great grandfathers did! Originally Posted by jackalope
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...#ixzz1mzxuiVUmEven when alternative views are clearly wrong, being exposed to them still expands our creative potential. In a way, the power of dissent is the power of surprise. After hearing someone shout out an errant answer, we work to understand it, which causes us to reassess our initial assumptions and try out new perspectives. “Authentic dissent can be difficult, but it’s always invigorating,” Nemeth says.
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18th December 2011 09:53 AM #10Senior Member
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Here, by the way, are the Six Points of the Charter. Except for annual elections, these ideas have all found their way into modern democracy, though they were WAY radical for their time:
THE SIX POINTS OF THE CHARTER
1. A vote for every man twenty one years of age, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for crime.
2. The ballot —To protect the elector in the exercise of his vote.
3. No property qualification for members of Parliament—thus enabling the constituencies to return the man of their choice, be he rich or poor.
4. Payment of members, thus enabling an honest tradesman, working man, or other person, to serve a constituency, when taken from his business to attend to the interests of the country.
5. Equal constituencies securing the same amount of representation for the same number of electors,--instead of allowing small constituencies to swamp the votes of larger ones.
6. Annual Parliaments, thus presenting the most effectual check to bribery and intimidation, since though a constituency might be bought once in seven years (even with the ballot), no purse could buy a constituency (under a system of universal suffrage) in each ensuing twelvemonth; and since members, when elected for a year only, would not be able to defy and betray their constituents as now.
Chartism: the six points of the Charter and the London Working Men's Associationhttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...#ixzz1mzxuiVUmEven when alternative views are clearly wrong, being exposed to them still expands our creative potential. In a way, the power of dissent is the power of surprise. After hearing someone shout out an errant answer, we work to understand it, which causes us to reassess our initial assumptions and try out new perspectives. “Authentic dissent can be difficult, but it’s always invigorating,” Nemeth says.
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