Page:A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States.djvu/61



The greatest weakness of the unofficial ballot was its failure to secure a secret vote. The Australian ballot remedies this fault, first, by providing for the securing of ballots by the electors only on election day, within the polling-place, and from the regular election officers; and secondly, by providing absolute secrecy in the marking of the ballots.

Instead of distributing the ballots in advance of the election, or by ticket peddlers at each polling-place on the day of election, as under the unofficial ballot system, the Australian ballots are distributed only within the polling-place to electors who have proved their qualifications. The New Hampshire law of 1891 is typical of the procedure required for obtaining the ballots.

Before the ballot is given to the elector, nineteen states require the election officers to write their names or initials upon the back of the ballot in such a place that it will be seen when the ballot is folded. The usual provision is to require the initials of the judge or clerk having charge of the ballot, but some of the states, as Minnesota or Missouri,