The Surprising History of the Secret Ballot
By Joe Sigg, Arizona Farm Bureau
It is interesting how words, behavior and practices – over time – can do complete flip-flops, meaning one thing at a point in time and then quite the opposite at another time.
Take the secret ballot as an example. Most of us have this impression the secret ballot is some sort of sacrosanct American innovation designed to encourage our freedom to exercise our right to vote without intimidation. That may be where we are right now, but the truth is it is not an American innovation. Moreover its adoption was actually designed to limit the vote. So how did that happen?
Going back, the word “ballot” comes from an Italian word which means “ball.” Some early American colonials voted by tossing peas or pebbles or musket balls into a hat. With the rise of political parties in this country, they began printing their own ballot and were handed out to people to turn in at the polls. Voters were often paid in coin or liquor to deliver these pre-printed ballots – so much for serious discussion and consideration of the issues before voting.
These ballots were often on colored papers and had distinctive markings, so it was pretty clear which slate of candidates was which. One of the tricks of poll workers was to cut out opposition names and paste in their favorites. In fact one of the main office supplies at polling places was vats of paste. I guess we can refer to this as thinly disguised integrity in the ballot booth.
Apparently in those days poll workers’ heads were down and quite industrious as opposed to some modern images of poll workers’ heads up, holding ballots at the light looking for hanging “chads.”
Well into the 1850s, regardless of the means of voting, everyone’s vote was considered to be quite public. Secret balloting was considered to be cowardly and despicable. If you supported or opposed someone you should be willing to stand up “like a man” (women were disenfranchised back then) and state your preferences publicly.
It was the Australians who adopted the secret ballot, and along with it, regulations concerning electioneering within certain distances of polling places, features quite familiar to us today. Many states, followed by others, quickly embraced the idea of the secret ballot. The reason: the power brokers, political elites and the guardian class were concerned with increased voting by recent immigrants, former slaves and the uneducated poor. Most of the folks in these groups were illiterate, so confronted with a written secret ballot in the voting booth was, at best, intimidating. The tactic worked, as hoped, and these groups proceeded to stay away from the polls.
Of course that was back in the day, and today is another story. We prefer the protections afforded with the secret ballot, even though we announce to the world our intentions when we ask for party ballots at closed primaries. So there is nothing particularly sacred about the secret ballot, but given some of our earlier practices at the polls, it makes sense to defend the practice today. If I want to tell someone how I intend to vote or how I voted, then I will make the decision without coercion.
