secret ballot

English

Noun

secret ballot (plural secret ballots)

1. The voting system involving ballots available only at official polling places, prepared at public expense, containing the names of all candidates, and marked in secret at the polling places.

Usage notes

• Known in the US as the Australian ballot because it was first officially adopted there in 1856.
• Also formerly known as the Massachusetts ballot, for the first US state that adopted it.

Synonyms

• Australian ballot