© Mark Ollig
The word “election” originated in the 13th century from the Anglo-French language, meaning “choice” or “selection.”
Ballotta is the Italian word for the “little ball” used in voting, from which the English word “ballot” is derived.
In the late 1500s, the people of Venice, Italy, would register their vote (in secret) by dropping a specifically marked or colored ball (ballot) into a container. The different colors or markings on the balls represented a particular vote or candidate. The balls were then counted to determine the winning choice.
Around 508 BC, Athens created a system to protect their democracy from tyrants and prevent anyone from gaining excessive power.
Citizens could write the name of someone they believed threatened the stability and well-being of the entire community on a piece of pottery called an ostrakon. If enough votes were cast, the person faced exile. This practice, known as ostracism, is where the word “ostracize” originates.
In 1856, William Boothby, then a sheriff of Adelaide in southern Australia, developed the Australian ballot method.
This method used secret paper ballots on government-issued forms printed with candidates’ names. Voters cast their ballots in an enclosed booth and placed them in a secure ballot box for hand-counting.
Boothby’s Australian secret ballot method spread to Europe and the United States, where voters in Massachusetts first used it during a US presidential election Nov. 6, 1888.
Early voting practices in our country often involved publicly declaring one’s chosen candidate aloud or writing their name on paper, often in front of others. This practice is known as non-secret voting.
Citizens using this “non-secret” ballot method were sometimes intimidated, coerced, or bribed monetarily to cast their vote for a particular candidate.
In 1888, Massachusetts and New York adopted the Australian ballot system statewide, which included government-printed ballots listing all the candidates, rather than having voters write in names or use ballots provided by political parties.
Privacy for ballot marking was ensured using compartmental booths or tables with partitions.
The Minnesota Election Law of 1891 required the use of the Australian ballot system for all general elections.
The January 1891 general statutes of the State of Minnesota says, “The election law of 1891, bringing the entire state under the so-called Australian system of voting in general elections, imposes important duties upon this office, also upon each and every town board and town clerk, all of which must be performed in proper order to secure a valid election.
Under section 44 of said law, each election district must be provided with three ballot boxes for voting, one ballot box painted white, one painted blue, and one painted black. There shall also be provided in each election precinct, two voting booths for every hundred electors registered. There shall also be provided an indelible pencil for each voting booth.”
Our use of the term “voting booth” likely originated from the name William Boothby, although this is not definitively proven. Back in the 19th century, a booth was also considered an enclosed space for animals inside a barn.
Minnesota used the Australian system of voting for the 1892 US presidential election.
A Minneapolis Times newspaper article from Nov. 15, 1892, titled, “Comment on the Australian Ballot System of counting” stated, “The Australian ballot law has its limitations, and those who’ve worked closely with it, like election judges, generally agree that while it’s effective in preventing illegal voting and ensuring ballots are cast secretly, it falls short when it comes to counting those ballots.”
Jacob Hiram Myers (1841 to 1920) obtained US Patent 415,549, titled “Voting Machine,” Nov. 19, 1889, which was the first mechanical lever voting machine.
In 1890, he founded Myers American Ballot Machine Company, and his voting machines were first used in Lockport, NY, in 1892 for a town election.
Unfortunately, Myers’ voting machines encountered significant problems during the Rochester, NY election of 1896, after which his company closed.
By the 1930s, improved models of mechanical lever voting machines were being used in many US cities; however, they were subjected to various problems, including being tampered with, and by 1982, most US production of these machines had ended.
Reading ballots using an optical mark-sense scanning system was first used in 1962 in Kern City, CA.
The Norden Division of United Aircraft and the City of Los Angeles designed and built this ballot reading method, which was also used in Oregon, Ohio, and North Carolina.
In the 1964 presidential election, voter jurisdictions in two states, California and Georgia, used punch cards and computer tabulation machines.
The 2000 presidential election is remembered for Florida’s punch card ballots and their “hanging chads” recount.
US Patent 3,793,505 was granted for “the Video Voter” Feb. 19, 1974. The abstract described it as “An electronic voting machine including a video screen containing the projected names of candidates or propositions being voted.”
The video voter was used in Illinois in 1975 and is considered the first direct-recording electronic voting machine used in an election.
Today, Minnesota ballot tabulators use optical scanner equipment to read and record the ballot vote for each candidate. Companies providing the state’s voting equipment include Dominion Voting Systems, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), and Hart InterCivic (Hart Verity).
Be sure to exercise your right to vote.
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image depicting a New York polling place from 1900 showing voting booths on the left. The image is public domain and is from the 1912 History of the United States, volume V. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.