For: Ballot (automobile) For: Ballots, Mayenne

A ballot is a device (originally a small ball—see blackball) 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 his/her ballot in a box at a polling station.

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.Fact: date=October 2008

The first use of paper ballots to conduct an election appears to have been in Rome in 139 BC, and the first use of paper ballots in North America was in 1629 within the Massachusetts Bay Colony to select a pastor for the Salem Church.

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.Fact: date=October 2008

The secret ballot was first introduced in Australia in the 1850s.Fact: date=October 2008

Types of voting systems

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 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, manyWho: date=October 2008 believed democracy 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. ReformersWho: date=October 2008 attacked the long ballot during the 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.Fact: date=October 2008

Design

Ballot design can aid or inhibit clarity in an election. Poor designs lead to confusion and potentially chaos if large numbers of voters spoil or mismark a ballot. The butterfly ballot used in Florida in the U.S. presidential election, 2000 led to widespread allegations of mismarked ballots. Fact: date=October 2008