1818 July 7

Parl. Ref. Bill

Reasons

§ VI. Mode of Voting /Voting how/

Voting secret why

4

An /One/ objection I have heard /has been/ made against the secret mode is – / – and that is/ the falshood which will be produced, as often as being /to a /the/ question/ interrogated /questioned/ how he has given vote has been given put to him by one to whom he is unwilling that the direction really given to the vote should be known, the answer returned /account given/ /statement made/ is false.

Answer. 1. Under the here proposed plan at any rate, such falshood does not seem likely to be otherwise /other/ than extremely rare: no question, no false answer.

Independently of the particular security here proposed The law of secresy has for its professed object the securing the weak against the tyranny of the powerful. From a person to whom the voter had any thing either simply to fear, or to hope and thence to fear, the question would be an insult. My wish is to make /injure/ you suffer: against my injury the law has done all that it thought it could do to afford you protection: fruitless is the endeavour: put yourself, I charge you put yourself out of the protection of the law

2. Under an /the/ article here proposed, each Voter makes a solemn promise made in writing and under his hand remaining on record that he never will declare say to which way he has given his vote: never will say: for, as to the making known, this is from first to last physically and utterly impossible. If it be an insult to call upon a man to act in contrariety to the known intention of a liberty-protecting law, how much greater the insult when the act would not be performed without the violation of a solemn promise