Contents

Open ballot system

Voting method in which voters vote openly

Part of the Politics series
Voting
Balloting Ballots Absentee ballot Provisional ballot Sample ballot Candidates and Ballot measures Write-in candidate Electorate Slate Ticket Collection Ballot box Compulsory voting Early voting Electronic voting Open ballot Polling place Postal voting Precinct Vote center Voting booth Counting Popular vote Tally Voting machine
Electoral systems Plurality and majoritarian systems First-past-the-post voting Two-round system Instant-runoff voting Plurality-at-large voting General ticket Usual judgment Proportional and semi-proportional systems Single non-transferable vote Cumulative voting Binomial system Party-list Single transferable voting Spare vote Mixed-member systems Mixed-member proportional Additional member system Mixed single vote (positive vote transfer) Scorporo (negative vote transfer) Mixed ballot transferable vote Alternative Vote Plus Dual-member proportional Rural–urban proportional Majority bonus system Parallel voting (Mixed member majoritarian)
Voting strategies Issue voting Fusion voting Split-ticket voting Straight-ticket voting Tactical voting Vote pairing Protest votes Abstention Donkey vote Election boycott None of the above Refused ballot Spoilt vote
Voting patterns and effects Coattail effect Likely voter Paradox of voting Passive electioneering Vote splitting Political apathy Voter fatigue Voter turnout Protest votes
Electoral fraud Ballot harvesting Ballot stuffing Felony disenfranchisement Vote buying Voter suppression Voter caging Prevention Election ink Secret ballot Voter registration
Politics portal
v t e

Anopen ballot system is a voting method in which voters vote openly, in contrast to a secret ballot, where a voter's choices are confidential.

The open ballot system was the norm prior to Australia adopting the secret ballot in 1856.^[1] It was used in Argentina until the adoption of the secret ballot in 1912.^[2] In the late twentieth century, the open ballot was used in the Third Nigerian Republic during the 1993 Nigerian presidential election (the method was referred to as "Option A4"), an election widely considered by Nigerians as a significant symbol of democracy in Nigerian political history.^[3][4]

See also[edit]

• 1993 Nigerian presidential election
• Moshood Abiola
• Humphrey Nwosu

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Norbert Kersting; Janice Caulfield; R. Andrew Nickson; Dele Olowu; Hellmut Wollmann (2009). Local Governance Reform in Global Perspective. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3531169538.
• Nigeria National Electoral Commission. Open Ballot System and Electioneering Campaign Laws and Guidelines (1990)