An open ballot system is a

voting method Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representatives ...

in which voters

vote Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...

openly, in contrast to a

secret ballot 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 intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

, where a voter's choices are confidential. The open ballot system was the norm prior to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

adopting the secret ballot in 1856. It was used in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

until the adoption of the secret ballot in 1912. In the late twentieth century, the open ballot was used in the Third Nigerian Republic during the

1993 Nigerian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Nigeria on 12 June 1993, the first since the 1983 military coup ended the country's Second Republic. The elections were the outcome of a transitional process to civilian rule spearheaded by the military rule ...

(the method was referred to as "Option A4"), an election widely considered by Nigerians as a significant symbol of democracy in Nigerian political history.

See also

References

Further reading