[OPINION] The crux of the matter: on the secret ballot

"It's a theft most foul indeed"

Carlüs Xheráltsëfiglheu writes  —  There are many points as to why someone might support the secret ballot. Some will argue that it is an issue of democracy, that a truly democratic state will have a secret ballot which does not grant such a benefit to the incumbent party. Others argue that a public ballot is the enemy of privacy, and that one’s vote should fall into the parameter of the private rather than the public sphere.

It should come as no surprise to active Talossan citizens that I’m an advocate of a secret ballot, but it’s the latter group into which I fall predominantly. Voting is, more often than not, a matter of conscience. It’s a question which asks “who is it you’re endorsing?” or even “who do you prefer, A or B?” In much larger countries this mightn’t be so much of an issue (though it’s open to abuse in so many other ways), but in Talossa what we have is a much smaller community where one’s actions can affect people in a far more direct manner. If person A and person B are both person C’s friends, it’s a regrettable decision that person C is required to make, and one that person C will inevitably, if only subconsciously at least, be judged. You might argue that this issue is solved through electing parties instead, except that it isn’t. If anything it makes things much worse for person C, who’ll have to choose between groups of friends instead.

Moreover, no citizen should have to justify their vote. It isn’t your average Talossan Jane and Joe’s place to be accountable for the actions of the party which they’ve elected. In fact, that would unequivocally defeat the object of elections, when one may as well be accountable and have some legislative clout by operating under a system of direct democracy, as do many of Talossa’s provinces. I’m not about to agitate for direct democracy in Talossa though, because Talossa’s politicians do have their uses. It should be Talossa’s politicians who attempt to justify attracting citizens’ votes and certainly not the other way around. To have to stand up and be counted as a supporter of the government or an opponent is no small thing, and above all else it immediately labels the voter.

The crux of the matter is this: whose business is it which way a citizen voted? It’s nothing to do with the parties – they aren’t sovereign in Talossa. Is it the business of King John, our Judges, or any officer of the state? No, it is the business of the individual that cast the vote and their business alone, for every individual is sovereign in their right to privacy, and a public ballot robs voters of this. It’s a theft most foul indeed.