An open ballot system is a
voting method
Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...
in which voters
vote
Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...
openly, in contrast to a
secret ballot
The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...
, where a voter's choices are confidential.
The open ballot system was the norm prior to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
adopting the secret ballot in 1856. It was also used in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
until the adoption of secret ballot in 1912. In modern times, the open ballot, also known as Option A4, was first adopted in the
Third Nigerian Republic
The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution.
Founded (1993)
The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989. General Ibrahim Badamasi ...
during the
1993 Nigerian presidential election, an election widely considered by Nigerians as the freest and fairest in the country's political history.
See also
*
1993 Nigerian presidential election
*
Moshood Abiola
Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola , also known as M. K. O. Abiola (24 August 1937 – 7 July 1998) was a Nigerian businessman, publisher, and politician. He was the Aare Ona Kankafo XIV of Yorubaland and an aristocrat of the Egba clan.
M.K.O ...
*
Humphrey Nwosu
Professor Humphrey Nwosu (born 2 October 1941) was chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) appointed by President Ibrahim Babangida, holding office from 1989 to 1993.
Birth and early career
Nwosu was born on 2 October 1941, and becam ...
References
Further reading
* {{cite book, author1=Norbert Kersting, author2=Janice Caulfield, author3=R. Andrew Nickson, author4=Dele Olowu, author5=Hellmut Wollmann, year=2009, title=Local Governance Reform in Global Perspective, publisher=
Springer-Verlag
Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing.
Originally founded in 1842 in ...
, location=Berlin , isbn=353116953X
* Nigeria National Electoral Commission. ''Open Ballot System and Electioneering Campaign Laws and Guidelines'' (1990)
Voting
Ballots