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News1 min ago
A Secret Ballot?
Two things struck me today when voting. The first is that you do not require any ID to vote, so could give the name of anyone in your constituency if you know their name and address.
More importantly, after you give your name, they look you up on a list of those entitled to vote, and against your name there is a number. That number (say, 729) is then written on the ballot paper - so the vote is compromised, as someone could go through the votes and find out how 729 - me- voted. Not a secret ballot!
More importantly, after you give your name, they look you up on a list of those entitled to vote, and against your name there is a number. That number (say, 729) is then written on the ballot paper - so the vote is compromised, as someone could go through the votes and find out how 729 - me- voted. Not a secret ballot!
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Good link @Mamyalynne
Some of the comments under the article have had chunks copied and pasted into the article (as blog pieces sometimes do).
This para didn't get incorporated but perhaps should have, as it clears up how secrecy is ultimately achieved, under our system.
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It should be noted that, in the UK, partly because of the counterfoil system, the results are not declared at polling station level. After verification and before sorting, ballot papers are mixed from all the polling stations within the electoral area. Thus there may well be over a hundred concurrent runs of the same voting numbers and it is not feasible to spot and link up a polling number with a ballot paper number.
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Some of the comments under the article have had chunks copied and pasted into the article (as blog pieces sometimes do).
This para didn't get incorporated but perhaps should have, as it clears up how secrecy is ultimately achieved, under our system.
//
It should be noted that, in the UK, partly because of the counterfoil system, the results are not declared at polling station level. After verification and before sorting, ballot papers are mixed from all the polling stations within the electoral area. Thus there may well be over a hundred concurrent runs of the same voting numbers and it is not feasible to spot and link up a polling number with a ballot paper number.
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