The ballot used in American elections has changed drastically since it was first used. The colonies held elections using everything from beans and corn to voices to cast votes. As paper ballots came into use, a voter would handwrite a list of candidates he wished to vote for. In the early 1800's, the political parties began printing their own ballots for voters. These ballots listed the candidates running for the various offices that the party supported. A half century after printed ballots were first used in America, states began introducing the Australian ballot into the electoral process. An Australian ballot allows the voter to vote secretly, which was not possible with the party printed ballots.
The Huntington Library in San Marino, CA has a collection of California ballots from the 1800's. With the generous cooperation of Alan Jutzi, Curator of Rare Books, and Cathy Cherbosque, Curator of Prints and Ephemera, selected ballot images are available on this site. They are all ballots that have been professionally printed, and are from the electoral era prior to the introduction of the secret ballot. |
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About the Researcher
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Melanie Goodrich studied political science at the California Institute of Technology as an undergraduate and is now a graduate student at New York University. Her reseach interests include American electoral politics, and many of her projects at Caltech focussed on how ballot design can effect the outcome of elections. Thanks to a Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship and the cooperation of the Huntington Library, she spent the summer of 2003 working with the Huntington's Political Ephemera Collection. Her research project was supervised by Caltech Associate Professor of History William Deverell and Professor of Political Science Michael Alvarez. Melanie would like to thank the Huntington, her SURF mentors (Drs. Alvarez and Deverell), and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations for their support of her work. |