Secret ballots protect voters by destroying evidence of their vote
Evidence
It is interesting that political democracy itself relies on a particular communication system in which the transmittal of authentic evidence is precluded: the mandatory secret ballot is a scheme to deny the voter any means of proving which way he voted. Being stripped of his power to prove how he voted, he is stripped of his power to be intimidated. Powerless to prove whether or not he complied with a threat, he knows—and so do those who would threaten him—that any punishment would be unrelated to the way he actually voted. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 52
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Secret ballot strips voters of power to prove their votes — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 52; Mandatory secrecy of the ballot protects voters from intimidation by removing proof. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 343; Secrecy suppresses knowledge, enforcing historical amnesia. — Nicholson Baker, Baseless- My Search for Secrets in the…, 1085
Related
- Mandatory secrecy of the ballot protects voters from intimidation by removing proof. (similarity 0.91)
- Secret ballot strips voters of power to prove their votes (similarity 0.91)
- Italian preference votes could be audited via secret number sequences to verify vote sales (similarity 0.79)
Broader Connections
- Secret ballot strips voters of power to prove their votes
#contradicts(1.00) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 52 - Mandatory secrecy of the ballot protects voters from intimidation by removing proof.
#corroborates(1.00) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 343 - Secrecy suppresses knowledge, enforcing historical amnesia.
#expands(0.70) — Nicholson Baker, Baseless- My Search for Secrets in the…, 1085