History Of Ballots
| I. |  |
Introduction |
Ballot, in modern usage, a sheet of paper used in voting, usually in an electoral system that allows the voter to make choices secretly. The term may also designate the method and act of voting secretly by means of a mechanical or electronic device. Used in elections in all democratic countries, the ballot method protects voters from coercion and reprisal in the exercise of their vote. Wherever the practice of deciding questions by free vote has prevailed, some form of secret voting has always been found necessary. See also Electronic Voting.
| II. | |
History of Balloting |
In ancient Greece, the dicasts (members of high courts) voted secretly with balls, stones, or marked shells. Legislation was enacted in ancient Rome in 139 bc establishing a system of secret voting. Long before the passage of this law, however, questions sometimes were decided in Rome in public meetings by means of the ballot. Colored balls were used as ballots during the Middle Ages. This form has survived to modern times, particularly in clubs or associations in which voting decides the question of admitting or rejecting proposed new members. Each voter receives two balls, one white, indicating acceptance, and the other black, indicating rejection; they are then deposited secretly in appropriate receptacles so as to indicate a favorable or unfavorable decision. In some organizations, candidates for admission are rejected if any black balls are found among the white balls.
In modern times, the most common form of ballot was the written or printed ticket. Although the ballot had been used previously by the British Parliament to conceal the voting record of its members, in 1710 the House of Lords rejected a proposal of the House of Commons providing for secret voting on matters before Parliament. The French Chamber of Deputies voted by ballot from 1840 to 1845. With the development of democracy the practice of voting secretly in legislative assemblies responsible to the people was generally abandoned.
Toward the end of the 18th century, demands were made in Britain that elections to Parliament be conducted by secret ballot, but the first proposal of this kind was not introduced into Parliament until 1833. The proposal was rejected, but subsequently advocates of Chartism incorporated the demand in their petitions to Parliament. Despite repeated attempts by proponents of the legislation to secure its enactment, Parliament took no effective action until 1872. In that year the Ballot Act was approved providing for secret voting at all parliamentary elections, except parliamentary elections held at universities, and at all municipal elections. Similar legislation had been previously adopted in France (1852) and Italy (1859).
| III. | |
Balloting in the United States |
Following the American Revolution, the secret ballot, used universally during the period of British colonial rule, was adopted in most of the newly established states. Development of the political party system resulted in various abuses of the ballot system in many states during the first half of the 19th century, when the law permitted the printing and distribution of ballots to the voters both by candidates and by political organizations. This system, which led to confusion and fraud at the polls, produced widespread public sentiment for ballot reform.
In 1888 the Massachusetts state legislature initiated remedial action, adopting legislation that provided for the so-called Australian ballot in state elections. The principal features of this method, first used in Australia in 1856 and subsequently adopted by every state in the Union, are the preparation, printing, and distribution of the ballot by government agencies; the use of a blanket ballot listing the names and party designations of all candidates for all offices to be filled; and secret voting under government supervision.
Formerly, most of the United States used the party-column type of blanket ballot, in which the names of candidates are arranged in columns allocated to their respective political parties. By 1967, however, most states had adopted the office-column type of listing, in which the names are arranged under the office sought, either alphabetically or by party, with the party label appearing after the name in either case. When the party-column ballot is used, the party emblem is often added to the party column and the party circle.
The purpose of the emblem and the party circle is to make it easier for loyal but ill-informed party voters to vote a straight party ticket. In addition, some states, counties, and cities provide ballots with extra space for write-in votes for candidates not listed. The preferential ballot, now rarely used, allows voters to indicate with numerals the order of their preference among the candidates for the same office. The long ballot, on which candidates for administrative as well as for legislative office were listed, was gradually replaced, through the efforts of such reformers as President Woodrow Wilson, by the short ballot listing names of legislative candidates only, administrative offices often being filled largely by appointment.
To facilitate voting and to reduce the possibility of fraud, a mechanical device operated either manually or electrically began to be adopted in various parts of the United States after 1892, when New York State first authorized such use. The list of candidates was arranged on the face of a voting machine according to the office-column model, either horizontally or vertically. The voter indicated a preference by placing a pointer next to the name of the candidate of his or her choice. Space was also provided for write-in votes. Each voting machine was equipped with curtains, which the voter closed to form a private polling booth. When the voter was finished voting, he or she pulled a special lever that opened the curtains, returned the pointers to their original positions, and started the mechanical counting devices that recorded and added up the votes. The use of voting machines in U.S. elections depended on state legislation.
| IV. | |
Contemporary Balloting in the United States |
Beginning in the 1960s, with the introduction of computers and other electronic devices, many states adopted punch-card systems or other forms of electronic tabulation. Entering a voting booth, a voter inserted a punch card next to a ballot and punched holes next to the name of the candidate he or she was voting for or selected the appropriate hole for voting in favor or against an initiative or referendum. Voters then removed the punch card and placed it in a ballot box. After the polls closed, election supervisors or judges ran the punch cards through an electronic tabulating machine or computer that recorded the results of the voting electronically.
After the disputed presidential election of 2000, when problems with the “butterfly ballot” type of punch-card system became apparent, the U.S. Congress passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The new law provided $3 billion in federal funding to help election districts replace existing mechanical or electronic tabulation voting systems. Many states adopted electronic voting machines that recorded the initial vote electronically, using touch-screen methods or other technologies. Controversies over this method, however, soon ensued, and a number of states discontinued electronic voting, or they required a paper copy or receipt of an electronic vote.
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