By Betty Kirkpatrick
The system of secret voting as used in political elections is known as a ballot, as is an occasion in which people vote in this way.
The word ballot can also be used as a verb, meaning to organise a secret vote by a group of people in order to find out their views on something, such as possible strike action.
Voters in elections tend to associate ballot with the word box. This is quite understandable since the ballot box is the container where voting papers, referred to as ballot papers, are deposited after being marked with the voter’s choice of candidate.
However, the origin of the word ballot has nothing to do with the word box. Instead, it is associated with the word ball. Ballot is derived from the Italian word ballotta, which means a little ball. This is because early voting systems involved voters secretly placing a small ball in a container provided for the purpose.
At one point it was the custom to place a black ball in a container to indicate a vote against someone, white balls being used to indicate a vote in favour. This black ball gave rise to the verb blackball, meaning to vote against someone gaining membership of a club, organisation, etc.
Such an attempt to debar someone could take place for a variety of reasons. The person might have committed some indiscretion thought to be unworthy of a member of the organisation, or the voter might have had a personal grudge against the would-be member.
Betty Kirkpatrick is the former editor of several classic reference books, including Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary and Roget’s Thesaurus. She is also the author of several smaller language reference books, including The Usual Suspects and Other Clichés published by Bloomsbury, and a series of Scots titles, including Scottish Words and Phrases, Scottish Quotations, and Great Scots, published by Crombie Jardine.
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