A secret vote is the essential
integrity safeguard because it enables voters to cast their ballot with full
independence. If a vote is not secret or can be identified during vote
counting, some people might be intimidated into not voting as they had truly intended.
Secrecy protections make intimidation or bribery much less effective.
Suitable privacy screens are
used at polling stations in most countries to help protect the secrecy of the
vote. The screen should be large enough and positioned so that others within
the polling station cannot see how the voter marks the ballot. During the 2004
legislative elections in South Africa,
privacy screens at some polling stations were poorly positioned, which may have
compromised the secrecy of the vote.[1]
When hand-marked ballots are
used—as they are in most systems—voters mark their choice on a standard ballot
out of the view of others. The ballot is then placed in a ballot box with the
ballots of other voters, making it impossible to know whom the voter supported.
Recent interest in allowing remote on-line voting has raised concerns that this
method cannot similarly guarantee the secrecy of the vote, thereby compromising
electoral integrity.
[1] Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA), Interim
Statement by the EISA Election Observation Mission: South African National and
Provincial Elections 12-14 April 2004
