Catalogue Number
NMLH.1991.106
Object Name
Ballot Box
Place
London
People
London Goldsmiths
Events
Elections
Date
[1840s ?]
Description
A wooden ballot box. This version has a wooden bowl on the top with a hole in it's base, which a voting ball would be dropped into. Below the cup the balls are gathered in a drawer which in the photograph is open, displaying a mixture of light and black wooden balls.
This ballot box demonstrates the democratic nature of these secret societies, who were often more democratic than the country as a whole at the time, before secret ballots were part of the parliamentary voting system. In the secret society ballots, each member would get a vote - decades before universal suffrage in the UK. The colour of the ball indicated if the vote was a yes or no. This is also the origin of the term 'blackball' - blackballing a member of a secret society voted them out. This was often done to those who had exposed secrets of the organisation to outsiders, as they were no longer considered trustworthy.
*On Display*
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