waxwing on Nostr: in 1838 the Chartists in England proposed the first proper universal ballot. ...

in 1838 the Chartists in England proposed the first proper universal ballot. Remarkably, a guy called 'Jolly' designed a voting machine that honestly sounds a ton more trustworthy than most of what is used today (including cryptographic schemes tbh): "Voters using Jolly's voting machine were to vote by dropping a brass ball (the ballot) into one of the holes in the top of the machine. Each hole was to be marked with a candidate's name. The ball, on passing through the machine, would advance a clockwork counter one step before dropping into a tray on the front of the machine, in clear view of the election judges. During the election, the counters would be sealed behind a closed door, so nobody could see the count until the polls closed, and the voter would vote behind a partition, so nobody could see which hole the ball was dropped into. If a voter brought an extra ball into the polling place, the judges would see two balls falling into the tray."

From https://homepage.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/voting/pictures/#lever