Ballot

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For the French automobile manufacturer, see Ballot (automobile).

For the town in France, see Ballots, Mayenne.

The Voting series:
This series is part of the Politics and the Election series

Voting Voting system Ballot Vote counting system Approval voting Bloc voting Borda count Condorcet method Coombs' method Copeland's method Cumulative voting D'Hondt method Droop Quota Dynamically Distributed Democracy Election threshold Hare Quota Highest averages method Instant-runoff voting Kemeny-Young method Largest remainder method Party list Plurality voting Preferential voting Proportional approval voting Range voting Ranked pairs Sainte-Laguë method Schulze method Single Transferable Vote Spoilt vote
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A ballot is a device (originally a small ball - see blackball (blacklist)) used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the secrecy of the votes. The voter casts their ballot in a box at a polling station.

1 History
2 Types of choices
3 Ballot design
4 Methods
5 See also

[edit] History

In Ancient Greece citizens used pieces of broken pottery to scratch in the name of the candidate in the procedures of ostracism. This was done because while parchment was expensive and had to be imported from Egypt, broken pottery was abundant and virtually free.

The first use of paper ballots to conduct an election appears to have been in Rome in 139 BCE, and the first use of paper ballots in the United States was in 1629 to select a pastor for the Salem Church.^[1]

In the United States initially paper ballots were pieces of paper marked and supplied by voters. Later on, political parties and candidates provided preprinted ballots for voters to cast.

The secret ballot was first introduced in Australia in the 1850s.

This German ballot has the constituency vote on the left and the party vote on the right.

[edit] Types of choices

Depending on the type of voting system used in the election, different ballots may be used. Ranked ballots allow voters to rank candidates in order, while ballots for first-past-the-post systems only allow voters to select one candidate. In party-list systems, lists may be open or closed.

The United States has a unique politics of the long and short ballot. Before the Civil War, it was widely believed that democracy was enhanced by multiplying 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 necessarily 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. A new generation of reformers attacked the long ballot during the so-called Progressive Era (circa 1893-1917). In the United States today, the term ballot reform sometimes refers to efforts to reduce the number of elected offices.

[edit] Ballot design

Ballot design can aid or inhibit clarity in an election. A poor design leads to confusion and potentially chaos if large numbers of voters spoil or mismark a ballot.

The so-called butterfly ballot used in Florida in the U.S. presidential election, 2000 led to widespread allegations of mismarked ballots.

Some political scientists prefer a more explicit statement of the voter's actual tolerances and preferences, and believe that failure to reflect these in ballot design and voting system alternatives actually causes many problems and leads for calls for electoral reform. For instance, a non-binding referendum or poll, carried out on a ballot, carries much more weight than one carried out with only a public sampling in a less politically committed event than an election. For example, one might count the number of ballots whereon the voter had crossed out the name of the political party that nominated the candidate, even if (maybe only if) that voter had voted for him or her. This would indicate support for candidates but would be able to send signals to them that the "party line" was not why that voter voted for them, but rather, s/he expected them to act independently.

Such marking and counting could be carried out on an ordinary ballot with no provision for it, however, there would be risk of counting it as "spoiled" if the marks were unclear, and if ballot design had not allowed for it initially.

Perspective view of the famous 2000 Florida 'butterfly ballot'.

[edit] Methods

In a jurisdiction using a paper system, a voter indicates his or her voter intent by personally marking a ballot that is pre-printed with the candidates and referenda. The ballot is manually counted by election officials after the polls have closed and may be recounted in the event of a dispute.
In a jurisdiction using an optical scan system, a voter indicates his or her choice(s) by personally filling an oval or completing an arrow on the ballot next to the printed candidates and referenda. The ballot is counted by a tabulating machine after the polls have closed and may be manually counted in the event of a dispute.
In a jurisdiction using a punch card system, a voter indicates his or her voter intent by removing a perforated chad from the ballot next to his or her choice(s). The ballot can be pre-printed with the candidates and referenda or a generic ballot placed under a printed list of candidates and referenda. The ballot is counted by a tabulating machine after the polls have closed and may be manually counted in the event of a dispute. Punch card voting systems are being replaced by other voting systems because of a high rate of inaccuracy related to the incomplete removal of the perforated chad and the inaccessibility to voters with disabilities.
In a jurisdiction using a mechanical voting system, a voter indicates his or her choice(s) by pulling down a lever next to a printed list of candidates and referenda. When the lever is pulled, it causes a connected gear in the machine to turn a counter wheel. The position of each counter wheel after the polls have closed will indicate the number of votes cast on each lever. The lever total is transcribed by the election official to the corresponding choice(s) determined at the election. No ballot is used in this system. Mechanical voting systems are being replaced by other voting systems because they are inaccessible to voters with disabilities, the exclusion of a ballot, and other reasons.
In a jurisdiction using an electronic direct record voting system (DRE), a voter indicates his or her choice(s) by pushing a button next to a printed list of candidates and referenda or touching the candidate or referenda box on a touchscreen interface. Once a selection is made the DRE creates an electronic ballot stored by in the memory components of the system. After the polls have closed, the system counts the votes cast and reports the totals to the election official. Many DREs include a communication device to transmit vote totals to a central tabulator.