Editing Ballot (section)

{{Short description|Document used to cast votes in an election}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2008}}
{{Voting}}
A '''ballot''' is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in [[voting]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ballot|title=Ballot|publisher=Merriam-Webster|access-date=2012-11-07|archive-date=2012-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113032620/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ballot|url-status=live}}</ref> It was originally a small ball (see [[blackballing]]) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/ballot|title=Ballot &#124; Origin and meaning of ballot by Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=2020-04-02|archive-date=2020-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628172959/https://www.etymonline.com/word/ballot|url-status=live}}</ref>

Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a [[candidate]], but [[government]]al elections use printed ballots to protect the [[secret ballot|secrecy of the votes]]. The voter casts their ballot in a [[Ballot box|box]] at a [[polling station]].

In British English, this is usually called a "ballot paper".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/ballot%5B1|title=Ballot|publisher=Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary|access-date=2012-11-07}}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The word ''ballot'' is used for an election process within an organization (such as a trade union "holding a ballot" of its members).