ballot

1. A sheet of paper or a card used to cast or register a vote, especially a secret one.
2. The act, process, or method of voting, especially in secret.
3. A list of candidates running for office; a ticket.
4. The total of all votes cast in an election.
5. The right to vote; franchise.
6. A small ball once used to register a secret vote.

1. To cast a ballot; vote.
2. To draw lots.

[Italian ballotta, a small ball used to register a vote, diminutive of dialectal balla, ball, of Germanic origin.]

Method whereby members of a work group (Bargaining Unit) determine whether they shall be represented by a particular union (bargaining agent). In order for a bargaining agent to be certified, it must receive a majority of the ballots cast in the bargaining unit.

verb

To select by vote for an office: elect, vote (in). See choice, politics.

Secret voting; a vote conducted by this method. Voting by dropping a pebble (psephos—hence psephology) into an urn was an invention of ancient Greek democrats, resurrected in the eighteenth century. Though J. S. Mill argued that voting in public encouraged more responsible behaviour, most regimes decided that intimidation and corruption necessitated secret voting, introduced in the United Kingdom in 1872.

Ballot, a method of voting by way of a form that lists the voter's options. The ballot was preceded in early America by other methods of Voting, such as by vocal statement or by letting corn or beans designate votes cast. During the early national period, the paper ballot emerged as the dominant voting method, and many states allowed the voter to make up his own ballot in the privacy of his home. Almost immediately, however, the Political Parties, motivated by a desire to influence the vote, started to print ballots as substitutes for handwritten ones, a practice that was constitutionally upheld by a Massachusetts Supreme Court decision in 1829. These "party strip" ballots listed only the candidates of a single party and were peddled to the voters on or before election day. Voting by such ballots was almost always done in public—contrary to the notion of a secret vote cherished today. The system of party ballots led to widespread intimidation and corruption, which were not corrected until the ballot re-form period of the 1890s.

Between 1888 and 1896, civic groups and "good government" supporters convinced over 90 percent of the states to adopt a new ballot patterned after one introduced in Australia in the 1850s to eliminate vote corruption in that country. The Australian ballot was the exact opposite of the earlier party ballots. It was prepared and distributed by the government rather than by the political parties, it placed the candidates of both major parties on the same ballot instead of on separate ballots, and it was secret. Still in use in all states at the end of the twentieth century, this type of ballot successfully eliminated much of the partisan intimidation and vote fraud that once existed; it also facilitated split-ticket voting.

During the 2000 presidential election, however, ballot irregularities and inconsistencies, particularly in the state of Florida, illustrated that significant flaws still remained in the American ballot system. Reforms, including the use of computerized ballots, were under review in many states after the Florida controversy touched off a national debate over which ballots should be used for national elections.

Bibliography

Evans, Eldon Cobb. A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1917.

Fredman, Lionel E. The Australian Ballot: The Story of an American Reform. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1968.

—Jerrold G. Rusk/A. G.

Tutor's tip: She rushed from the "ballet" (form of classical dance) to cast her "ballot" (paper on which a voter indicates her choice) before it was too late.

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

For the town in France, see Ballots, Mayenne.

This article contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed. (February 2009)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)

This article is part of the Politics series

Voting

Absentee ballot Abstention Ballot Ballot box Ballot stuffing Caging Early voting Election Day voter registration Election ink Electorate None of the above Paradox of voting Passive electioneering Polling place Postal voting Precinct Preference vote Protest vote Provisional ballot Refused ballot Secret ballot Spoilt vote Slate Straight-ticket voting Tactical voting Tally Ticket Vote center Vote pairing Voter fatigue Voter registration Voter turnout Voting booth Voting machine

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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. In British English, this is usually called a "ballot paper". The word "ballot" is used for an election process within an organisation (such as a trade union "holding a ballot" of its members).

Contents 1 History 2 Types of voting systems 3 Design 4 Methods 5 See also 6 References

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 papyrus was expensive and had to be imported from Egypt, broken pottery was abundant and virtually free.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[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.^{[citation needed]}

The secret ballot was first introduced in Australia in the 1850s.^{[citation needed]}

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

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, many^[who?] 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. Reformers^[who?] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 (It refers to a ballot paper that has names down both sides, with the punch holes in the centre - and has been likened to a maze. ) used in Florida in the U.S. presidential election, 2000 led to widespread allegations of mismarked ballots.^{[citation needed]}

Some political scientists^[who?] prefer 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 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, she or 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 infamous 2000 Florida "butterfly ballot".

Aerial view of the same 2000 Florida "butterfly ballot".

Methods

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Further information: Vote counting system

• In a jurisdiction using a paper system, voters choose by marking a ballot. In most jurisdictions the ballots are pre-printed with names of candidates and the text of the referenda. The Philippines is an exception. There, voters must write the names of their candidates on the ballot. Election officials manually count the ballots after the polls close and may be recount them in the event of a dispute.
• In a jurisdiction using an optical scan voting system, voters choose by filling an oval or by completing an arrow on the printed ballot next to their chosen candidate or referendum position. Optical scan technology has also been used by many standardized tests. Tabulating machines count the ballots either after the polls close or as the voters feed the ballots into the machine, in which case the results are not known until after the polls close. Officials often will 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.
• In a jurisdiction using a punch card system, voters choose by removing or "punching out" a perforated chad from the ballot next each choice. The ballot may be pre-printed with candidates and referenda, or may be a generic ballot placed under a printed list of candidates and referenda. A tabulating machines counts ballots after the polls closed. Officials may manually count the ballots 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, often called a "voting machine", voters choose by pulling a lever next to their choice. There is a printed list of candidates, parties and referenda next to the levers indicating which lever is assigned to which choice. When the voter pulls a lever, it turns a connected gear in the machine, which turns a counter wheel. Each counter wheel shows a number, which is the number of votes cast using that lever. After the polls close, election officials check the wheels' positions and record the totals. No physical ballot is used in this system, except when the voter chooses to write-in a candidate. Other systems are replacing mechanical voting systems because they are inaccessible to disabled voters, do not have a physical ballot, are getting old, and other reasons.
• In a jurisdiction using an electronic direct record voting system (DRE), voters choose by pushing a button next to a printed list of candidates and referenda, or by touching the candidate or referenda box on a touchscreen interface. As the voter makes a selection, the DRE creates an electronic ballot stored by in the memory components of the system. After the polls close, the system counts the votes and reports the totals to the election officials. Many DREs include a communication device to transmit vote totals to a central tabulator. The touchscreen systems remind people of an automated teller machine (ATM) and often are described as such.

See also

Look up ballot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Ballot.

• Ballot box
• Secret ballot
• Election fraud
• List of democracy and elections-related topics
• Chad (paper)
• Democracy
• Direct democracy
• E-democracy
• Vote counting systems
• Ostracism

References

1. ^ Jones, Douglas W.. A Brief Illustrated History of Voting. University of Iowa Department of Computer Science.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - hemmelig afstemning, afstemningsresultat
v. intr. - afholde urafstemning blandt

idioms:

• ballot box    stemmeurne
• ballot paper    stemmeseddel
• ballot rigging    valgfusk, valgsvindel

Nederlands (Dutch)
(geheime) stemming, stembiljet, ballotage, aantal stemmen, balloteren

Français (French)
n. - (Pol, etc) bulletin de vote, scrutin, tour de scrutin, tirage au sort
v. intr. - voter, (Pol) voter à bulletin secret, tirer au sort

idioms:

• ballot box    urne électorale
• ballot paper    bulletin de vote
• ballot rigging    (GB) fraude électorale

Deutsch (German)
n. - geheime Abstimmung, Stimmzettel
v. - abstimmen

idioms:

• ballot box    Wahlurne
• ballot paper    Stimmzettel
• ballot rigging    Wahlfälschung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ψήφος, ψηφοδέλτιο, δικαίωμα ψήφου, ψηφοφορία
v. - ψηφίζω, τραβώ κλήρο

idioms:

• ballot box    ψηφοδόχος, κάλπη
• ballot paper    ψηφοδέλτιο
• ballot rigging    καλπονόθευση

Italiano (Italian)
ballottare, voto segreto, votazione a scrutinio segreto, scheda elettorale

idioms:

• ballot box    urna elettorale
• ballot paper    scheda elettorale
• ballot rigging    truffa elettorale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - cédula (f), votação (f), sorteio (m)
v. - eleger, sortear

idioms:

• absentee ballot    abstenção (f) eleitoral (Polít.)
• ballot box    urna (f) eleitoral
• ballot paper    cédula (f) eleitoral
• ballot rigging    fraude (f) eleitoral

Русский (Russian)
голосовать, голосование, бюллетень для голосования

idioms:

• absentee ballot    заочное голосование
• ballot box    урна для голосования
• ballot paper    бюллетень для голосования
• ballot rigging    фальсификация результатов голосования

Español (Spanish)
n. - voto, sufragio, votación secreta, papeleta de votación
v. intr. - votar, sortear

idioms:

• ballot box    urna
• ballot paper    papeleta de votación
• ballot rigging    fraude electoral

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - röstsedel, lottdragning, sluten omröstning
v. - rösta, dra lott

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
投票用纸, 选票, 投票权, 投票, 投票总数, 投票表决, 抽签

idioms:

• ballot box    票箱, 投票箱
• ballot paper    选票
• ballot rigging    操纵投票, 选举舞弊

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 投票用紙, 選票, 投票權, 投票, 投票總數
v. intr. - 投票, 投票表決, 抽籤

idioms:

• ballot box    票箱, 投票箱
• ballot paper    選票
• ballot rigging    操縱投票, 選舉舞弊

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 투표[용지]
v. intr. - 투표하다, 제비를 뽑다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 投票用紙, 投票, 投票総数, 投票権, 無記名投票用紙
v. - 投票する, 投票で決める, くじを引く

idioms:

• ballot box    投票箱
• ballot paper    投票用紙
• ballot rigging    選挙の不正行為

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) كرة صغيرة او ورقه تستعمل للاقتراع السري, قرعه, تصويت (فعل) اقترع, القى قرعه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הצבעה חשאית, מספר הקולות, פתק הצבעה, זכות הצבעה‬
v. intr. - ‮ערך הצבעה, הגריל‬

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