Secret Ballot?

[EDDIE51]

After this thread I took great care to look very carefully as I went to vote just now.
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Society-and-Culture/Question1417910.html
There was NO marking of the voting slips. The entire 'book' of slips that mine was taken from had the same number printed on each slip and counterfoil, that number was 41. There were other unused 'books' of voting slips ready to be used, the next book had the number 42 on it.
No serial number on the slip, I looked closely on both sides.
I still an certain that in all previous elections the situation has been the same. I have never seen a serial number on a voting slip yet, just the station ID number on the books of slips.
Anyone seen different? Let us know.

[ParsleyDumpling]

Hi Eddie,

I agree with you. The other ABer's (I think) were referring to a number which is on the polling card you receive in the post. It is this number that is noted down (twice, for some reason on a yellow and white A4 sheet) even then there was no name next to it. I assume this is what they use to make sure you don't vote twice.

When I handed my polling card in they didn't want it and just asked for my address. Person A crossed it off a printed list and told person B the number next to my name on that list (same number on polling card) which was written on the two sheets of A4 paper. I was given two ballot papers but nothing was written on them.

[sherrardk]

At our polling station they wrote down the number on my voting card and then the number from each of the voting slips - I had plenty of chance to watch this process as they had made a mistake on the one of the numbers that they had written down for the previous voter (my husband).

[EDDIE51]

^^ Yes I agree, no marks on an individual paper so that the voter could be identified. You have a register number, 1586 in my case, that they cross off the copy of the register so that you can not vote twice. I know they count the number of votes in the ballot box which has to agree with the number of voters crossed off the register.

[Old_Geezer]

Didn't occur to me to check.

If they cross reference any voting card number with voting slip numbers by noting them, that defeats the "secret" bit though, doesn't it ?

[EDDIE51]

^^ There are no 'voting slip numbers' only the polling station ID no( 41 in my case.) That number is on all the voting slips in a 'book'of 100 slips.
So yes it would be possible to say a particular slip was 1 of 100 but not to narrow it down to an individual voter.
That was my point, in the 1st thread people were saying every slip had an individual serial number, that at least in my polling station is not the case.

[Hymie]

Many years ago, I remember reading that a returning officer claimed that he identified all those who had voted for the communist party and passed their details on to the local police.

If I knew that voting for a particular party would result in my name being passed to the local police – I would vote for that party (even if it was UKIP).

[Electrochem]

It is well known and has been for years that it IS possible. Some people need to look at the facts:

http://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-1051,00.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8497014.stm#secrecy

It has been like this for years!

[boxtops]

I postal voted this time, but certainly it's happened in the past, a pencil number's been written on the voting slip before it's handed to me.

[naomi24]

The electors' numbers aren't printed on the slips - they're written on in pencil when the people at the polling station check your name off their lists. I've just been and the lady in the polling station wrote the number that's beside my name on her list on my ballot papers. I've never known any other procedure.

[askyourgran]

We had postal votes, we were given a number on our yellow slip which we had to check against the number on the polling slip.

When we used to go to the polling station we took the polling card that was sent and it was checked against the register at the Polling statiion and marked off. I can't be 100% sure but I think the actual polling slip just named all the candidates with the boxes to mark off and post into the ballot box.