Clearcreek Township ballot box   Save
Ohio History Connection Museum Collection
Description: This ballot box was used in Clearcreek, Ohio, between the 1830s and the 1850s. The box has a small slit in the top for the insertion of paper ballots, and the top slides off for the ballots to be removed at the end of the voting period. Ballot boxes like this were part of an important change in the manner suffrage was exercised between the 1700s and the 1800s. In the 1700s and beyond, in England and some of her American colonies, voting was viva voce. That is, voters went to the polls and publicly expressed their preference. Such methods provided many opportunities for unscrupulous groups and individuals to influence a person's vote through intimidation or other means. The secret paper ballot removed many of these opportunities for intimidation and influence, thus rendering the voter more free to pick his preferred candidate. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: H71445
Subjects: Ohio Government; Voting; Elections; Ballots
Places: Clearcreek Township (Ohio); Warren County (Ohio)