Voting in Theory and Practice

Extract

Voting, in some form or other, must have been one of the activities of primitive man: and one can easily picture the cave-dweller expounding, perhaps with illustrations on the wall of his dwelling, some of the difficulties of theory and practice quite as earnestly as we shall consider the subject to-day, and, I am inclined to think, with no less success. The announcement of the results of any system was probably no less exciting than the clash of spear on shield that declared the verdict in Athens, or the public vote by a show of hands. Secret voting was only permitted when individual persons were directly concerned. It will be remembered that John Stuart Mill’s judgment is in exact accord with the ancient practice: his illustration of the exceptional case being that of club membership, where the “blackball” of the old-fashioned ballot-box still represents the pebble of ancient Greece. In Rome voting “by classes” was frequently used, until corruption led to the domination of the wealthy; and a form of ballot by the tabella was used about B.C. 120.