On Sat, Mar 28, 2009 at 5:45 AM, Scott Stroz <[email protected]> wrote: > > I agree that a secret election alone will not guarentee a fair election, but > it is a step in the right direction and affords a better chance of a fair > election.
Honestly, I have some doubts on this matter. I wonder sometimes if we do ourselves a disservice by having a secret ballot and not holding people accountable for their actions. A secret ballot is a relatively new idea. It was certainly not something our country was founded with. We take it for granted now but elections in this country used to be held by public gathering and then dividing up according to vote, much like a caucus or a legislature. Since we are a representative democracy, a republic, instead of a direct democracy I think that the advantages of a secret ballot probably outweigh the negatives in public elections. But caucuses show us that systems don't have to involve a secret ballot in order to work. I think that secret ballots are useful but I know that they are not essential for the function of democracy. If you are up for a good weekend read, check out this article about the history of balloting/elections in the US: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/13/081013fa_fact_lepore Judah ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:293117 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
