Ballot
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- For the French automobile manufacturer, see Ballot (automobile)
- For the town in France, see Ballots, Mayenne.
A ballot is a device (originally a small ball - see blackball) used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use either pre-printed or electronic ballots, in a wide variety of designs. The voter casts their ballot in a box at a Polling Station.
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Types of choices
Depending on the type of voting system used in the election, different ballots may be used. Ranked ballots allow voters to rank candidates in order, while ballots for first-past-the-post systems only allow voters to select one candidate. In party-list systems, lists may be open or closed.
The United States has a unique politics of the long and short ballot. Before the Civil War, it was widely believed that democracy was enhanced by multiplying the number of elective offices to include such comparatively minor posts as the state-level secretary of state, county surveyor, register of deeds, county coroner, and city clerk. A larger number of elected offices necessarily required longer ballots, and at times the long ballot undoubtedly resulted in confusion and blind voting, though the seriousness of either problem can be disputed. A new generation of reformers attacked the long ballot during the so-called Progressive Era (circa 1893-1917). In the United States today, the term ballot reform sometimes refers to efforts to reduce the number of elected offices.
Ballot design
Ballot design can aid or inhibit clarity in an election. A poor design leads to confusion and potentially chaos if large numbers of voters spoil or mismark a ballot.
The so-called butterfly ballot used in Florida in the U.S. presidential election, 2000 led to widespread allegations of mismarked ballots.
Some political scientists prefer a more explicit statement of the voter's actual tolerances and preferences, and believe that failure to reflect these in ballot design and voting system alternatives actually causes many problems and leads for calls for electoral reform. For instance, a non-binding referendum or poll, carried out on a ballot, carries much more weight than one carried out with only a public sampling in a less politically committed event than an election. For example, one might count the number of ballots whereon the voter had crossed out the name of the political party that nominated the candidate, even if (maybe only if) that voter had voted for him or her. This would indicate support for candidates but would be able to send signals to them that the "party line" was not why that voter voted for them, but rather, s/he expected them to act independently.
Such marking and counting could be carried out on an ordinary ballot with no provision for it, however, there would be risk of counting it as "spoiled" if the marks were unclear, and if ballot design had not allowed for it initially.
There are many controversies around electronic voting and voting machine trustworthiness due to many incidents of related electoral fraud.