An open ballot system is a voting method in which voters vote 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 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 during the

1993 Nigerian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Nigeria on 12 June 1993, the first since the 1983 military coup ended the country's Second Republic. The elections were the outcome of a transitional process to civilian rule spearheaded by the military ruler, ...

, an election widely considered by Nigerians as the freest and fairest in the country's political history.

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