1819 Sept. 18

Parl. Reform Bill

Reasons

§.9. Election Process

Suffrage secret why

Analysis

9

The voter Being thus exposed to sinister influence to the influence of will on will from without, {this influence is} either of the alluring kind, or of the intimidative and thence in case of prevalence coercive: and in each /either/ case he either yields to it or does not. /in some cases no such influence is applied /applies itself/ to him or is supposed by them to apply itself to him In so far as this is the case all is well: every thing is in this open mode upon the same footing as if it were in the secret mode If any such influence does apply itself to him, the direction in which it applies is either conformable to that taken by his internal wish, or unconformable: if conformable and known to be so, it is again without effect and in this open mode every thing is upon the same footing as if it were in the secret mode./

If it is of the alluring kind and he yields to it, the result is the public evil the evil to the universal interest as above mentioned. But in this case to the individual there is no evil: on the contrary there is a good: and in so far as this good has place, by the whole amount of it a compensation is made to in his instance (this individual being as large a part of the public as any other is) for the public evil.

If he does not yield to it, then all is right: upon the open mode every thing is upon the same footing as upon the secret mode: and nothing better can be said of it.

If it is of the intimidative kind, here again either he yields to it or he does nor yield to it.

If he yields to it, here then is a sense of injury a sense of oppression. Here then is a somebody by the fear of whom, that is of evil from whom – he is induced to sacrifice to the wish of that somebody his own wish: his own wish, and with it not only what in his own opinion is his own interest but what in that same opinion is the public interest: and thus to do what is morally wrong, even in his own eyes.

Moreover his own uninfluenced wish is the wish to which by the act in question – by the act of thus giving his vote, he declares himself to have given expression. But by the supposition the declaration thus made is untrue. The law of sincerity is thus violated by him: and of its being so he can not but be conscious. Such is the degradation to which by fear of the individual in question – by fear of this terrorist, he has subjected himself.