Open Secrets

Precisely how votes were to be cast had a long-contested history in France, as elsewhere. A show of hands or voice-voting was the traditional way of reaching a decision in an electoral assembly, for public voting made sense in societies where illiteracy was widespread, though it inhibited individual expression. Immense problems were accordingly created when paper-balloting was imposed after the Revolution of 1789 and demanded a new technology. A pioneering proposal for a fully secure vote was actually made during the 1790s, but it was not adopted until 1914, when the French finally introduced both an envelope for the ballot paper and a polling booth where it was inserted in private. During the intervening century, though the ballot box was made more secure, the voter’s choice had largely remained an open secret, which suited those who sought to monitor the behaviour of the mass electorate. Yet, just as the ballot paper was becoming globally accepted, mechanical and then electronic voting was invented; it is employed in many countries today, but only to a very limited extent in France.