Social and Psychological Dimensions of Ballot Secrecy

政治学家和其他观察人士通常认为，当代对投票保密的法律保护足以确保选民认为他们的投票是一种私人行为。如果是这样的话，那么投票决定应该完全由个人驱动吗？候选人的评价。简而言之，人们会投票给他们个人喜欢的候选人。然而，一项初步研究发现，尽管有法律保护，选民认为他们的投票决定是私人的假设似乎是有缺陷的。初步结果表明，相当一部分美国公众严重怀疑，对无记名投票的法律保护是否真的能成功地让他们在投票站做出的选择真正保密。很大一部分公众会与其他人讨论他们的选择，或者迫于社会压力而透露他们的投票结果。如果一个选民预期她可能会向别人透露她的选择，那么她在投票站的选择将受到她预期别人对她的选择的反应的影响，从而引入与群体成员关系或选民共同的政治亲和力相关的社会压力。社会环境。该项目通过对选民信念进行更大规模、更全面的研究，使我们能够更好地了解选票保密信念的原因和后果。试点工作表明，对投票保密的怀疑在少数群体成员中更为普遍（即使在考虑了收入、年龄和教育程度之后）。这是值得注意的，原因有几个。对投票保密的关切可能会破坏对选举合法性的信心，从而阻碍参与。此外，对保密的担忧可能会导致某些群体在投票选择方面感受到更大的社会压力。这些社会影响可能会降低投票率或改变这些群体的投票选择，以以前的研究没有考虑到的方式塑造选举过程。审查了体制因素（如登记规则）对人们对选票保密的看法的影响。如果一个人希望设计选举机构或公共教育运动，使（潜在的）选民意识到选票保密的法律保护，那么了解制度规则和程序如何影响人们对选票保密的信念就特别重要。尽管一些研究研究了制度因素是如何影响人们对一个人是否？没有研究记录或衡量特定改革（如选举监督员或邮寄投票）对人们对投票保密的看法的影响。

Political scientists and other observers often assume that contemporary legal protections for ballot secrecy are sufficient to ensure that voters consider their vote a private act. If this is the case, then voting decisions should be driven exclusively by individuals? evaluations of the candidates. Put simply, people will vote for the candidate that they, personally, prefer. However, a pilot study found that, legal protections notwithstanding, the assumption that voters believe their voting decision is private appears to be flawed. Preliminary results indicate that a substantial segment of the American public has serious doubts about whether the legal protections of the secret ballot actually succeed in keeping the choices they make in the voting booth truly confidential. A large portion of the public discusses their choices with others and/or feels social pressure to reveal how they voted. If a voter anticipates she is likely to reveal her choices to others, her choice in the voting booth will be influenced by how she anticipates others will respond to her selection, thereby introducing social pressures related to group memberships or the political affinities common in the voter?s social environment. The project allows us to better understand the causes and consequences of beliefs about ballot secrecy by conducting a larger and more comprehensive study of voter beliefs. Pilot work suggests that doubts about ballot secrecy are more prevalent among members of minority groups (even after accounting for income, age, and education). This is noteworthy for several reasons. It is possible that concerns about ballot secrecy undermine confidence in the legitimacy of elections and thereby discourage participation. Further, concerns about secrecy may result in some segments of the population feeling greater social pressures associated with voting choices. These social influences may depress turnout or alter vote choices among these groups, shaping the electoral process in ways that have not been considered in previous research. The impact of institutional factors (e.g., registration rules) on perceptions about ballot secrecy are examined. Understanding how institutional rules and procedures affect beliefs about ballot secrecy is of particular concern if one wishes to design electoral institutions or public education campaigns to make (potential) voters aware of the legal protections present for ballot secrecy. Although some work has examined how institutional factors affect beliefs about whether or not one?s vote will be properly counted (e.g., Alvarez, Hall, and Llewellyn 2008), no research documenting or measuring the effects of particular reforms (e.g., election monitors or voting-by-mail) on perceptions of ballot secrecy have been conducted.