From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ballot
Ballot
Part of the Politics series which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but
governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the se-
crecy of the votes. The voter casts his/her ballot in a
Voting box at a polling station. In British English, this is usually
ballot paper".
called a "ballot paper The word "ballot" is used for an
• Absentee ballot
election process within an organisation (such as a trade
• Abstention
union "holding a ballot" of its members).
• Ballot
• Ballot box
• Ballot stuffing History
• Caging In ancient Greece, citizens used pieces of broken pottery
• Coattail to scratch in the name of the candidate in the procedures
• Compulsory voting of ostracism. This was done because while papyrus was
• Early voting expensive and had to be imported from Egypt, broken
• Election Day voter registration pottery was abundant and virtually free.[citation needed]
• Election ink The first use of paper ballots to conduct an election
• Electorate appears to have been in Rome in 139 BC.
• Electoral fraud In Ancient India, around 920 AD, in Tamil Nadu, Palm
• None of the above leaves were used for village assembly elections. The palm
• Paradox of voting leaves with candidate names, will be put inside a mud
• Passive electioneering pot, for counting. This was called Kudavolai system.[1][2][3]
• Polling place The first use of paper ballots in North America was in
• Postal voting 1629 within the Massachusetts Bay Colony to select a pas-
• Precinct tor for the Salem Church.[4]
• Preference vote In the United States initially paper ballots were
• Protest vote pieces of paper marked and supplied by voters. Later on,
• Provisional ballot political parties and candidates provided preprinted bal-
• Refused ballot lots for voters to cast.[citation needed]
• Secret ballot
• Spoilt vote
• Slate Types of voting systems
• Straight-ticket voting
• Tactical voting
• Tally
• Ticket
• Vote center
• Vote pairing
• Voter apathy
• Voter fatigue
• Voter registration
• Voter turnout
• Voting booth
• Voting machine
Politics portal
A ballot is a device (originally a small ball—see blackball) Perspective view of the infamous 2000 Florida "butterfly bal-
used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses lot".
one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest
elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on Depending on the type of voting system used in the elec-
tion, different ballots may be used. Ranked ballots allow
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ballot
Top view of the same 2000 Florida "butterfly ballot".
voters to rank candidates in order of preference, while
ballots for first-past-the-post systems only allow voters
to select one candidate for each position. In party-list
systems, lists may be open or closed.
The United States has a unique politics of long and
short ballot. Before the Civil War, many believed democ-
racy was enhanced by increasing the number of elective
offices to include such comparatively minor posts as the
state-level secretary of state, county surveyor, register of
deeds, county coroner, and city clerk. A larger number
of elected offices required longer ballots, and at times
the long ballot undoubtedly resulted in confusion and
blind voting, though the seriousness of either problem
can be disputed. Progressivists attacked the long ballot
during the Progressive Era (circa 1893–1917). In the Unit-
ed States today, the term ballot reform sometimes refers
to efforts to reduce the number of elected offices.[citation
needed]
Design
This German ballot has the constituency vote on the left and
Ballot design can aid or inhibit clarity in an election. Poor
the party vote on the right.
designs lead to confusion and potentially chaos if large
numbers of voters spoil or mismark a ballot. The butter-
fly ballot used in Florida in the U.S. presidential election, would be able to send signals to them that the "party
2000 (a ballot paper that has names down both sides, with line" was not why that voter voted for them, but rather,
a single column of punch holes in the centre, which has she or he expected them to act independently.
been likened to a maze) led to widespread allegations of Such marking and counting could be carried out on
mismarked ballots.[5] an ordinary ballot with no provision for it, however,
Some political scientists prefer more explicit state- there would be risk of counting it as "spoiled" if the
ment of the voter’s actual tolerances and preferences, marks were unclear, and if ballot design had not allowed
and believe that failure to reflect these in ballot design for it initially.
and voting system alternatives causes many problems
and leads for calls for electoral reform. For instance, a Methods
non-binding referendum or poll, carried out on a ballot,
Further information: Vote counting system
carries much more weight than one carried out with only
• In a jurisdiction using a paper system, voters choose
a public sampling in a less politically committed event
by marking a ballot. In most jurisdictions the ballots
than an election. For example, one might count the num-
are pre-printed with names of candidates and the
ber of ballots whereon the voter had crossed out the
text of the referenda. The Philippines (until 2007)
name of the political party that nominated the candidate,
and Japan are an exception. There, voters must write
even if (maybe only if) that voter had voted for him or
the names of their candidates on the ballot. Election
her. This would indicate support for candidates but
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ballot
officials manually count the ballots after the polls button next to a printed list of candidates and
close and may be recounted in the event of a dispute. referenda, or by touching the candidate or referenda
• In a jurisdiction using an optical scan voting system, box on a touchscreen interface. As the voter makes a
voters choose by filling an oval or by completing an selection, the DRE creates an electronic ballot stored
arrow on the printed ballot next to their chosen by in the memory components of the system. After
candidate or referendum position. Optical scan the polls close, the system counts the votes and
technology has also been used by many standardized reports the totals to the election officials. Many DREs
tests. Tabulating machines count the ballots either include a communication device to transmit vote
after the polls close or as the voters feed the ballots totals to a central tabulator. The touchscreen
into the machine, in which case the results are not systems remind people of an automated teller
known until after the polls close. Officials often will machine (ATM) and often are described as such.
manually count any ballots that cannot be read or
with a write-in candidate and may recount the
ballots in the event of a dispute.
See also
• In a jurisdiction using a punched card system, voters • Ballot box
choose by removing or "punching out" a perforated • Chad (paper)
chad from the ballot next each choice. The ballot • Democracy
may be pre-printed with candidates and referenda, • Direct democracy
or may be a generic ballot placed under a printed list • E-democracy
of candidates and referenda. A tabulating machines • Election fraud
counts ballots after the polls closed. Officials may • List of democracy and elections-related topics
manually count the ballots in the event of a dispute. • Ostracism
Punched card voting systems are being replaced by • Secret ballot
other voting systems because of a high rate of • Vote counting systems
inaccuracy related to the incomplete removal of the
perforated chad and the inaccessibility to voters
with disabilities.
References
• In a jurisdiction using a mechanical voting system, [1] "Panchayat Raj, Policy notes 2011-2012". Rural
often called a "voting machine", voters choose by development & panchayat raj department, TN
pulling a lever next to their choice. There is a Government, India. http://www.tn.gov.in/
printed list of candidates, parties and referenda next policynotes/pdf/rural_development.pdf. Retrieved
to the levers indicating which lever is assigned to 03 November 2011.
which choice. When the voter pulls a lever, it turns a [2] "Heritage in a park". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 02
connected gear in the machine, which turns a April 2010. http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/04/02/
counter wheel. Each counter wheel shows a number, stories/2010040251170100.htm.
which is the number of votes cast using that lever. [3] "Handbook on Kongu archaeological treasures".
After the polls close, election officials check the The Hindu (Coimbatore, India). 27 June 2005.
wheels’ positions and record the totals. No physical http://www.hindu.com/lf/2005/06/27/stories/
ballot is used in this system, except when the voter 2005062701170200.htm.
chooses to write-in a candidate. Other systems are [4] Jones, Douglas W.. A Brief Illustrated History of
replacing mechanical voting systems because they Voting. University of Iowa Department of Computer
are inaccessible to disabled voters, do not have a Science.
physical ballot, are getting old, and other reasons. [5] Dershowitz, ’Supreme Injustice: how the High
• In a jurisdiction using an electronic direct record Court hijacked Election 2000, p. 22-28
voting system (DRE), voters choose by pushing a
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Categories:
• Elections terminology
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