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Ballot Box

 
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A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually cuboid though sometimes a tamper resistant
Tamper resistance

Tamper resistance is resistance to wiktionary:tamper by either the normal users of a product, package, or system or others with physical access to it....
 bag, with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot paper
Ballot

A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the secret ballot....
 in an election
Election

An election is a decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office. This is the usual mechanism by which modern Representative democracy fills offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional government and local government....
 but which prevents anyone from accessing the votes cast until the close of the voting period.






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Haitians Voting in the 2006 Elections
A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container, usually cuboid though sometimes a tamper resistant
Tamper resistance

Tamper resistance is resistance to wiktionary:tamper by either the normal users of a product, package, or system or others with physical access to it....
 bag, with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot paper
Ballot

A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the secret ballot....
 in an election
Election

An election is a decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office. This is the usual mechanism by which modern Representative democracy fills offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional government and local government....
 but which prevents anyone from accessing the votes cast until the close of the voting period. It will usually be located in a polling station
Polling station

A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, stadium or local government offices, and will each se...
 although in some countries, notably Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 and Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
, there may also be ballot boxes that are taken to people's homes where they would otherwise be unable to travel to the polling station. When very large ballot papers are used, there may be a feeder mechanism to assist in the deposit of the paper into the box.

Transparent ballot boxes may be used in order for people to be able to witness that the box is empty prior to the start of the election (i.e. not stuffed with fraudulent votes
Ballot stuffing

Ballot stuffing is the illegal act of one person submitting multiple ballots during a vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted. The name originates from the earliest days of this practice in which people literally did stuff more than one ballot in a ballot box at the same time....
).

At the close of the election all boxes can be taken to a single location for tallying (The count) and the result declared. Alternately the boxes can be tallied at the polling station
Polling station

A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, stadium or local government offices, and will each se...
, with individual stations announcing their results to be tallied (known as precinct count).

Ballot boxes are in some jurisdictions obsolete, because of the increase in paperless electronic voting
Electronic voting

Electronic voting is a term encompassing several different types of voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic means of counting votes....
.

The word ballot derives from voting systems based upon the use of a small ball instead of a voting paper: see blackball
Blackball (blacklist)

Blackballing was a rejection technique used in elections to membership of a gentlemen's club . The principle of such a club was that it was self-perpetuating; i.e., new members could only be elected by existing members....
.

The first secret ballot and ballot box was in Pontefract
Pontefract

Pontefract is a market town in West Yorkshire, England, near the A1 road , the M62 motorway, and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of approximately 35,000....
.

Image:Cardboardballotbox.jpg|A cardboard ballot box used during the first federal vote in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
. Image:Woodenballotbox.jpg|A wooden ballot box used in the northeastern United States circa 1870. Image:Metalballotbox.jpg|A galvanized metal ballot box used in Tulare County, California
Tulare County, California

Tulare County is a county located in the California Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Fresno, California. Sequoia National Park is located in the county, as are part of Kings Canyon National Park, in its northeast corner , and part of Mount Whitney, on its eastern border ....
 United States circa 1936. Image:Election MG 3455.JPG|A voter putting his envelope into a clear ballot box during the 2007 French presidential election Image:Glassballotjar.jpg|A glass globe ballot jar circa 1884. Image:Acmeballotbox.jpg|An Acme voting machine
Voting machine

Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment , that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information....
 of Bridgewater, Connecticut
Bridgewater, Connecticut

Bridgewater is a New England town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,824 at the 2000 United States Census....
 circa 1880. Image:Tiobox_transparent_plastic_ballot_box.jpg|A translucent ballot box (Tiobox) used in Slovenia. Image:Urne DSCN1426.JPG|Since 1988, clear ballot boxes are compulsory in French political elections; here one used in the 2007 presidential election
French presidential election, 2007

The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as President of the French Republic of France for a five-year term....

See also

  • Ballot
    Ballot

    A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the secret ballot....
  • Secret ballot
    Secret ballot

    The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices are confidential. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery....
  • Election fraud