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There’s a key downside when a town moves to secret ballot, also known as an Australian ballot because states there were the first to adopt such a system in the mid-19th century: It’s usually a straight up-or-down vote.

“Why we would want to insert U.S. segregationist Jim Crow legislation to corrupt the Australian ballot process, I have no idea.”

Louisiana’s system is the opposite of what the political scientists call the “Australian ballot,” the shortlist of parties that voters in other countries face.

Marshfield will conduct town meeting business by Australian ballot rather than the floor because of the pandemic.

In the late 1800s, the Australian ballot arrived on U.S. shores, and state by state, election rules were changed: Ballots had to be printed by the government, and booths or rooms needed to be provided for privacy.