The ballot box is a tall rectangular dark wooden box with a narrow slot in the top. In front of it in the case there is a small narrow booklet, and on top of the box there is a brass stamp with a wooden handle.
The box was used in the very first secret ballot for a parliamentary election in Britain, which was here in Pontefract! It was used in a by-election for a Pontefract MP held on 15th August 1872. Secret voting had been introduced in July 1872 to try and stop widespread corruption and violence in elections in Britain.
Until this change was brought in men (and only men, until 1918) would cast their vote in public. They would go to a public polling station, tell the Returning Officer who they were, establish their right to vote, and declare who they were voting for.
All of the votes were recorded and
published in poll-books. The booklet in the case is one such poll-book, recording
all of the votes in the Pontefract constituency for the General Election in 1868.
The new system introduced in 1872 was pretty much the same as today. At the polling station voters were given a ballot paper with the candidates’ names printed on it and they marked their choice on the paper in a private voting booth.
Before voting began Pontefract's ballot boxes were sealed with wax and a
liquorice stamp. This was used to make
sure everyone could see it had not been tampered with. You can see the remains of the original liquorice seal on our ballot box. There is also an example of the liquorice stamps used inside the case.
Pontefract’s 1872 secret vote saw Liberal MP Hugh Childers
re-elected. The changes brought in by the new system were initially only a
trial, but the election ran very smoothly, as did later similar ones, so the changes
were made permanent.
Pontefract had made national political history!
Find out more in our comic about the 1872 by-election, Potwallopers
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