The Secret Ballot
Initially, voters informed a polling officer orally of their chosen candidate. In 1870, the secret ballot came into use, whereby each voter would mark their choice on a printed ballot and place the ballot in a sealed box. (This system essentially continues in use today.) The change occurred to reduce the chances of voters feeling intimidated, embarrassed, or pressured about their vote, and to reduce the chances of corruption.
Read more about this topic: History Of Voting In New Zealand
Famous quotes containing the words secret and/or ballot:
“I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl.
The secret mischiefs that I set abroach
I lay unto the grievous charge of others.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Perhaps the fact that I am not a Radical or a believer in the all powerful ballot for women to right her wrongs and that I do not scorn womanly duties, but claim it as a privilege to clean up and sort of supervise the room and sew things, etc., is winning me stronger allies than anything else.”
—Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)