Secret ballot
Topic: Elections and the Electoral System · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 5 "Universal Franchise and India's Electoral System"; Class 9, Ch 6 "Democracy"
Meaning
A secret ballot is a way of voting in which no one can find out how a particular person voted. Because their choice stays hidden, voters are protected from threats, bribes and pressure from powerful people. Under Section 128 of the Representation of the People Act 1951, breaking the secrecy of voting is a punishable offence.
Example
At a polling station, the voter goes alone behind a screen and presses a button on the EVM. Nobody else sees the choice. Class 8 NCERT's story of a class election shows a braille ballot, which lets a visually challenged student vote in secret.
Don't confuse with
- Open ballot: in Rajya Sabha elections, since 2003 a party MLA must show the marked ballot to the party's authorised agent. Voting there is not fully secret.
Related concepts
- Direct election
- Indirect election
- Free and fair elections
- Universal adult franchise
- 61st Constitutional Amendment Act 1988
- Right to vote