Secret ballot
Videos
The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by i
Presidential candidate Luis Guillermo Solís votes in the 2014 Costa Rican general election behind a privacy screen which says "The VOTE is SECRET"; Solís was elected president in the election
The Polling by William Hogarth (1755). Before the secret ballot was introduced, voter intimidation was commonplace.
A British "how to vote" card from 1880
New York polling place c. 1900, showing voting booths on the left
Landsgemeinde
Videos
The Landsgemeinde is a public, non-secret ballot voting system operating by majority rule. Still in use – in a few places – at the subnational political level in Switzerland, it was formerly practiced
Secret ballot
…and the ballots are designed to eliminate bias and prevent anyone from linking voters to the ballot. In systems of direct democracy, such as the Swiss Landsgemeinde, voting is typically conducted publicly to ensure all citizens can observe the outcome. By the late 20th century, the secret ballot had become commonplace…
Landsgemeinde in Glarus, 2009
Die Landsgemeinde, fresco in the Federal Palace of Switzerland by Albert Welti and Wilhelm Balmer
Landsgemeinde Trogen 1814
ETH BIB Com LC1265 001 006