Secret Ballot introduced in UK

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Resources

Until 1872, most voting, including at General Elections, was done through a public voting process, with each voter announcing aloud which candidate he chose to cast his vote for. This had led to a long-running debate over the introduction of a secret ballot. Advocates pointed out the evident corruption rife in the current system, whereby tenants felt compelled to vote for their landlord (or their landlord's preferred candidate) upon fear of penalties. Opponents, however, argued that the secret ballot would remove people's sense of community responsibility, and encourage them to vote with only their own interest in mind. Finally, in 1872, the Ballot Act decreed that future General Elections would implement a secret voting system.

113 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Secret Ballot introduced in UK". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=997, accessed 29 March 2024.]

997 Secret Ballot introduced in UK 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.