Secret Ballot, Secret Vote

Probably the first experience people had with voting was when they were in Kindergarten. Some issue or other would come up and we would be told to put our heads down on the desk, close our eyes and raise our hands for a “Yes” or “No.” Thus begun our familiarity with a “secret ballot.”

The provision at polling places for people to place their votes privately instead of orally was first originated in Australia during the 1850’s and became known as the Australian Ballot. The four points necessary for an Australian Ballot are: --An official ballot being printed at public expense, --on which the names of the nominated candidates of all parties and all proposals appear, --being distributed only at the polling place and --being marked in secret.

In the United States secret ballots started being used after the presidential election of 1884. The first Australian ballot used in the United States was in Lexington, Massachusetts with Kentucky being the last state to follow in the process, joining in 1891 to abolish the oral ballot. The first president to be elected completely under this system was Grover Cleveland in 1892.

The issue of privacy is very important to us. We have all sent and received e-mails with disclaimers such as, “This message contains information which may be confidential and privileged. Unless you are the intended addressee (or authorized to receive for the intended addressee), you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received the message in error, please advise the sender reply e-mail and delete the message. Thank you very much.”

HIPPA Compliance Disclosure is even stronger because the law makes disclosure of health information a crime. “The documents accompanying this e-mail or fax transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender that is legally privileged. This information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. The authorized recipient of this information is prohibited from disclosing this information to any other party and is required to destroy the information after its stated need has been fulfilled, unless otherwise required by state law.”

So we have established that Americans like their privacy, yet in Illinois one has to vocally announce what political party’s ballot they will take during a primary. I have always been astounded by this. I don’t have to disclose to anyone my weight, age or wealth, yet I have to reveal what political party I am supporting? This open, oral ballot creates fear that if one chooses the wrong ballot the poll watcher will report back to the party bosses. If one lives in Chicago and holds a city job, one cannot ask for a Republican primary ballot without apprehension of repercussion.

One should be able to take the ballots of all parties and choose which one to use in the privacy of the voting booth. State Representative Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) has called for open primary voting for years and has gotten no where. Last week, Governor Quinn used his executive authority and issued an amendatory veto of House Bill 4842 to eliminate the state’s current requirement for a voter to declare their party affiliation orally and creates an open primary system. His letter stated, “To ensure that each citizen of our State has the ability to fully participate in primary elections, we cannot allow party affiliations to stand in the way of meaningful choice. The choice to favor one political party over another is a personal one and should be between a voter and his or her conscience. A voter should never have to fear the repercussions of picking one party over another when exercising his or her fundamental right to vote.

My specific recommendations for change to House Bill 4842 eliminate the requirement that a voter publicly declare party affiliation when voting at a primary election. Voting is a sacred right and as long as I am Governor, I will do everything within my power to protect each citizen’s ability to cast a ballot. With my recommendation today, a voter’s partisan preference will no longer be known to others. The decision to cast a primary ballot for one party or another will be strictly a matter of personal choice.”

The Supreme Court has given women the right to the “personal choice” to have an abortion, but in the State of Illinois one cannot make the private “personal choice” in asking for a primary ballot. It makes no sense!

In response to Quinn, State Rep. Franks said, “Governor Quinn’s veto message offers the General Assembly the opportunity to return to this important issue and remove the requirement that voters declare a political party when receiving their primary ballot on Election Day. In the 2010 February primary, voter turnout was at an all-time low. This important change to an open primary system will encourage more voters to participate in the democratic process going forward. “

Even with the support of Franks, I seriously doubt that open primaries will ever come to Illinois. Other powerful Democrats won’t allow it to happen.

Another election issue that was decided on last week, House Bill 5820 (P.A. 96-1018) is a bill that requires the governor and lieutenant governor to run as a team in the general primary election. This came about because of the election of Scott Lee Cohen as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor that shocked all the party regulars. Cohen dropped out of the LG race when he was threatened by the Democratic Party and has now emerged successfully as an independent candidate for governor.

I have made no secret of my support of Cohen, yet so many people I have spoken to are afraid to openly declare their intention to vote for him for fear of backlash from the Democratic or Republican Party. Thy have told me they cannot attend a party at my home for Cohen, but they will be voting for him in November.

The Australian ballot provides for confidential voting, so I am convinced that in the secrecy of the voting booth, the electorate will do the right thing and make the personal choice to vote for Cohen. No one has to know you marked his name; just do it.