The United States Of America

The Constitution And Democracy

Ballot
Ballot, bal'[sch ]t, any object, now usually a sheet of paper, by which a secret vote is cast; hence also the act of voting, or the total number of votes cast at a given election. The word is derived from the Italian ballotta, meaning "little ball," this being the form in which the earliest secret votes were cast.

Ballots of this kind were used in ancient Athens in the people's courts and popular assemblies from the 5th century B.C.; they were also employed in popular assemblies and sometimes in the Senate in Rome. Commonly, balls of white or black were used to indicate a yes or no vote; sometimes the balls were dropped into different urns or boxes to express the voter's preference. In early colonial times in America, beans and corn were used on occasion as ballots. Some fraternal organizations still use white and black balls in voting on the admission of new members.

In democratic countries today, paper ballots are used in elections for public office to ensure the anonymity of the voter and thus achieve the maximum expression of the popular will. The paper ballot has been traced to a secret vote held in the Salem (Mass.) church in 1629, probably the first use of the ballot in America. Even the absentee ballot was allowed by an act of the Massachusetts colony in 1647, in the provision that freemen who remained at home could send their votes to the court of elections on open papers or papers folded once.

The use of paper ballots spread widely among the American colonies and later among the states until, by the Civil War, only Kentucky and Virginia were electing by voice vote. Kentucky, which had had the paper ballot from 1792 to 1799, was the last state to abandon voice voting. The legislature of the Northwest Territory enacted a law in 1800 that elections should be by ballot. A court case in Massachusetts, in 1829, decided that printed votes met the constitutional test of written votes. The party ticket, a strip issued for easy casting of a vote, came into use in the mid-19th century. To ensure secrecy, laws were enacted requiring clean, white paper for all party tickets. Various other regulations came in scattered states--dimensions, quality of paper used, and, in two states, the enclosure of the ballot in a sealed envelope.

Australian Ballot
Thirty years after the innovation in Australia of a secret, uniform ballot in 1858, the United States copied the idea. The characteristics associated with the Australian ballot are: uniformity, printing at public expense, secret voting, and official conduct of the election.

The English form of this ballot was simple--one office for which a few candidates were entered. But the adaptation of the Australian ballot by the United States quickly transformed it from such simplicity to several patterns of ballot, one of which was the party-column ballot which strikingly resembled the former party tickets consolidated on one sheet of paper.

For the general election this arrangement, known as the Indiana ballot, places all the candidates of a party in the same column, the order of the columns being determined either alphabetically, by the result of the vote in the preceding election, or in one-party states by common consent. Some states put an emblem over each column, so that the voter may more easily identify his column. About half of the states place a square or circle at the head of each column for a straight ticket mark and also the square beside the name of each candidate for a split ticket vote. Blank lines for each office and a blank column are put on the ballot for persons who wish to write in names of unlisted candidates.

The other arrangement, known as the Massachusetts ballot, groups the names of the candidates for each office--in some states with party label, in others without any party identification. The order of names for each office is decided by law, and may be determined by one of the following: (1) party vote in the preceding election, (2) alphabetical order, (3) drawing of lots, and (4) decision by the board of elections. Since the first position is the most desirable, many states require that the names be rotated or alternated in the various precincts. California allows the name of the incumbent to have first place.

For the general ELECTION </presidents/ea/side/election.html> more than half of the states use a consolidated or blanket ballot on which appear all candidates and proposals (initiated and referred measures). This ballot is usually white and of high quality paper. The size is often stated in the law; but usually the number of candidates and measures determines its size. The remaining states use separate ballots--a candidate ballot (or one for each level of government), one for proposals, and a nonpartisan ballot for a judicial or school election.

Some states, such as Vermont, designate a different color for each ballot, and a few even require that the box to receive each ballot be of matching color. When the certified form of the ballot has been set up, it is printed on inexpensive paper, conspicuously headed "Sample Ballot" or "Specimen Ballot," to be distributed and posted for educational purposes. Where the voting machine is used, the ballot label, or a reduced copy of it, is printed, bearing instructions for the voter.

A number of states require one or more election clerks to initial each ballot on the back before it is handed out. The clerk at the ballot box checks the folded ballot for the initials before the voter deposits it. More than half the states use a numbered perforated stub which is detached from the marked and folded ballot by the election judge. A few states use a double stub--the first half is torn off when the voter receives the ballot, the second before the folded ballot is deposited. Both stubs must bear the same number. The ballot remains secret; the stub(s) merely serve to ensure that the voter deposits only the official ballot which he received in the polling place. This device seeks to prevent "the Tasmanian dodge," by which a voter could deposit a ballot already marked for him and take away an official ballot to be marked for another voter. Fraudulent voting--repeating, ballot-box-stuffing, intimidation, and corrupt counting of ballots--are faults in election administration and not features of the ballot itself.

Primary Election Ballots
The Primary  is a party election to nominate candidates for the general election, although a special or a nonpartisan election may be held in conjunction with it. Subject to variations that are peculiar to the primary, the ballots are printed, distributed, and voted in the same manner as are general election ballots.

In the "open primary" (used in about ten states) the voter receives all the party tickets on one blanket ballot (for example, Minnesota), or on separate ballots clipped in one sheaf (Wisconsin), and he secretly votes the party ticket of his choice. In the "closed primary" the voter states his party, or is registered as a member of a given party, and he votes only that particular ticket.

In any consideration of the primary, it may be noted that voters are free to express their preferences at the subsequent general election, regardless of their participation in the primary, unless the voter feels a moral constraint in relation to his own party. In some states the primary ballot carries a printed pledge that the voter will support the nominees of the primary, but there are varying interpretations of such pledges, both official and personal.

Some form of "run-off primary" is used in the Southern states. If a candidate in the primary has a majority, he is nominated; but if no one receives a majority, a second primary is held for the two leading candidates. This ensures a majority nomination unless there is a tie, in which case a state may authorize a third primary.

If the apparent result of a primary election is changed by the official count, ballots for the run-off primary may have to be rapidly changed. A write-in vote for a candidate declared eligible is occasionally necessary. Some sentiment has been expressed to lengthen the time between the two primaries to allow a satisfactory count and certification.

Voting Machine
Since the Voting Machine is merely a mechanical Australian ballot, its use is fully covered in the election laws of the states. The ballot label is arranged on some machines to present the party-column ballot with the straight ticket lever and a lever for a choice under each office (for example, in Rhode Island); and on other machines to present the office-group ballot, sometimes with a straight party lever also (as in Connecticut). There is provision for the write-in vote on the ballot label or on paper ballots placed within the curtain of the machine. The laws require a supply of paper ballots to be printed for use if a machine breaks down.

"Ballot title" is the term applied to the wording of a referred measure as it appears on the ballot label of the machine or on the paper ballot. Referendum and initiated measures commonly appear at the top of the ballot label for the voter's first consideration, although some machines are made for placing them at the right or bottom of the label. When a nonpartisan election is held in a primary or general election, as for judicial officers, the names of these candidates usually appear before the party candidates.

In addition to the well-established voting machine, another advanced type of ballot is the automatic voting device. This uses punch cards and electronic data processing. Each voter receives as many cards as the number of candidates and questions requires. The cards are inserted in the device. To the right of each name (or of the "Yes" and "No" spaces for questions) the voter may punch in his choice. A card spoiled in the process of voting can be turned in for a new card. All completed cards are placed in an envelope and submitted to the election judges. The device can be carried in a briefcase, and the necessary number of devices can be furnished in each precinct.

This plan has been authorized in California, Georgia, and other states. It has the value of central counting as well as the relative economy of purchase and storage. The voting machine, with its accurate and speedy counting, is still widely used, and each year more cities and counties adopt it. Probably three fourths of all votes cast are recorded and counted mechanically or electronically.

Short Ballot
The November presidential election is actually the selection of presidential electors of the party obtaining the plurality vote in each state. The form of the ballot came to be an arrangement of names of party candidates for electors, with or without the names of candidates for president and vice president. This ballot was of quite large dimensions. Removal of the names of electoral candidates from the ballot was achieved in state after state throughout the first half of the 20th century so that more than half the states, electing about three fourths of the electoral college, use the presidential short ballot. The saving of space on the ballot has been considerable, and there is an economy of effort in casting and counting the ballot.

The presidential short ballot was suitable to the voting machine, and it was for the early machines that exceptions were first made to the listing of names of electoral college candidates. What came to be a short ballot for paper balloting was preceded by its application to the voting machine. The two movements, deleting electors from paper ballots and from the face of the machine, have continued simultaneously. The wording of the Illinois law is typical: "Placing a cross within the square before the bracket enclosing the names of President and Vice President shall not be deemed as a direct vote for such candidates for President and Vice-President, but shall only be deemed to be a vote for the entire list of electors chosen by that political party or group so certified to the Secretary of State as herein provided."

Other arrangements found among the states for the presidential election are: (1) only the names of the presidential electors are on the ballot (Arkansas); (2) the names of the electors appear beneath the names of the presidential candidates, to be voted individually or as a group by a mark in the square beside the presidential names (Vermont); and (3) the names of electors are grouped beneath the presidential names with only one square to mark (Oregon).

In the United States the short ballot movement led to a reduction of elective officials, especially in relation to state administration. The result was an integration of authority around the governor, to whom various officials, formerly elected but now appointed, are responsible.

The movement served two significant purposes: (1) it brought about increased prestige and power for the governor, with an increased efficiency of administration, and (2) it gave the voter relatively few offices to vote for and a better notion of a unified, conspicuously responsible state government. In many counties the opportunity is still open for a short ballot, with similar emphasis on efficiency and responsibility in administration.

Legal Controls
Responsibility of those persons who handle ballots is very important. Not only must election officials observe the legal requirements of election administration, but other persons having some task related to ballot preparation and distribution are obliged to meet legal exactions. In Virginia, for example, the printer and each of his employees must take the following oath: "I ... solemnly swear that I will print ... ballots according to the instructions of the electoral board of the county of ... ; that I will print, and permit to be printed, directly or indirectly, no more than the above number; that I will at once destroy all imperfect and perfect impressions other than those required to be delivered to the electoral board; that as soon as said number of ballots is printed I will distribute the type used. ... "

Responsibility for both used and unused ballots continues after the election. When the ballots have been counted and properly certified by election boards, they are turned over to an officer for custody pending the possibility of a contest by a defeated candidate or group; then upon court order the ballots are subject to recount. If the election is not contested they are kept in the vaults of a county treasurer or by the central board for the legally required period (usually six months or one year) and then destroyed.

European Ballots
In Britain the ballot for election to the House of Commons carries one office, for which there are often not more than two candidates. Municipal elections carry a somewhat larger load, since council members (perhaps five) are the only persons to be elected. In "list" elections (on the Continent)--devised for emphasis on party lists of candidates--the representation in Parliament is chosen in multiple-member districts, thereby adding to the total number of names on the printed ballot. The choice for the voter relates to party and not at all, or perhaps only incidentally, to individual candidates.

Balloting in France and Germany is a much longer operation, though not at all to be compared with the labors of the American voter. The referendum vote is less used in European countries than in American states having the initiative and referendum. But the referendum is well known in Switzerland, and the expression of policy choice through a "plebiscite" is found in various other countries on the continent. In totalitarian nations elections receive a great deal of attention; but slates of candidates uniformly without opposition cannot in any way resemble electoral arrangements in democratic nations. 

Spencer D. Albright 
University of Richmond
For Further Reading
Bain, H. M., and Hecock, D. S., Ballot Position and Voter's Choice (1957; reprint, Greenwood Press 1973)
Bone, Hugh A., and Ranney, Austin, Politics and Voters, ed. by Eric M. Munson, 5th ed. (McGraw 1981)
De Leon, Daniel, The Ballot and the Class Struggle, 8th ed. (NY Labor News 1971)
Farley, James A., Behind the Ballots (1938; reprint, Greenwood Press 1972)
Flanigan, William H., and Zingale, Nancy H., Political Behavior of the American Electorate (Allyn 1983)
Fredman, L. E., Australian Ballot: The Story of an American Form (Mich. State Univ. Press 1968)
Grofman, B., and Lijphart, A., eds., Electoral Laws and their Political Consequences (Agathon Press 1985)
Phillips, Kevin P., and Blackman, Paul N., Electoral Reform and Voter Participation (Am. Enterprise Inst. 1975)
Ra, Jong On, Labor at the Polls (Univ. of Mass. Press 1978) 
Schlozman, Kay Lehman, ed., Elections in America (Allen & Unwin 1987)