14 Facts About Secret ballot

1.

Secret ballot, known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous.

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2.

The most basic form of a secret ballot utilizes blank pieces of paper upon which each voter writes their choice.

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3.

Today, printed Secret ballot papers are usually provided, with the names of the candidates or questions and respective check boxes.

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4.

Popularity of the Secret ballot selfie has challenged the secrecy of in-person voting.

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5.

Secret ballot became commonplace for individual citizens in liberal democracies worldwide by the late 20th century.

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6.

In some cases, a secret ballot is used, for example to allow representatives to choose party leadership without fear of retaliation against those voting for losing candidates.

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7.

Secret ballot was introduced into public life of Athens during second half of the fifth century.

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8.

The Secret ballot was folded in order to prevent other people from reading its contents.

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9.

The original Secret ballot box, sealed in wax with a licorice stamp, is held at Pontefract museum.

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10.

Until the original Tasmanian Electoral Act 1856 was "re-discovered" recently, credit for the first implementation of the secret ballot often went to Victoria, where it was pioneered by the former mayor of Melbourne, William Nicholson, and simultaneously South Australia.

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11.

Massachusetts adopted the first state-wide Australian Secret ballot, written by reformer Richard Henry Dana III, in 1888.

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12.

Right to hold elections by secret ballot is included in numerous treaties and international agreements that obligate their signatory states:.

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13.

Each Secret ballot paper is individually numbered and each elector has a number.

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14.

Journalist Lynn Landers argued that the secret ballot enabled election fraud and so should be eliminated or supplemented with other ways of verifying voting, such as cryptographically secure receipts.

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