Open ballot system

{{Short description|Voting method in which voters vote openly}}

{{Voting}}

An open 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.Terry Newman, {{cite web|url= http://www.mumble.com.au/enrollingthepeople/tasmania/newman_tasmania_and_secret_ballot.pdf |title=Tasmania and the Secret Ballot }} {{small|(144 KiB)}} (2003), 49(1) Aust J Pol & Hist 93, accessed May 20, 2015 It was used in Argentina until the adoption of the secret ballot in 1912.{{Cite web |title=Roque Sáenz Peña {{!}} Reformer, Radicalism, Politics {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roque-Saenz-Pena |access-date=2024-01-22 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} 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.{{cite web|title=Nigerians remember MKO Abiola on June 12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507150026/http://tvcnews.tv/?q=article%2Fnigerians-remember-mko-abiola-june-12-0|archive-date=7 May 2016|url=http://tvcnews.tv/?q=article/nigerians-remember-mko-abiola-june-12-0|access-date=18 April 2016|url-status=dead|work=TVC News}}{{cite news|title=Making a point with Option A4|url=http://thenationonlineng.net/making-a-point-with-option-a4-2/|access-date=18 April 2016|work=The Nation|date=21 March 2013}}