Social and Psychological Dimensions of Ballot Secrecy

政治学家和其他观察人士经常认为，当代对投票保密的法律保护足以确保选民将他们的投票视为私人行为。如果是这样的话，投票决定应该完全由个人决定？对候选人的评价。简而言之，人们会投票给他们个人喜欢的候选人。然而，一项试点研究发现，尽管有法律保护，但选民认为他们的投票决定是私人决定的假设似乎是有缺陷的。初步结果显示，相当一部分美国公众对无记名投票的法律保护是否真的成功地对他们在投票站做出的选择真正保密表示严重怀疑。很大一部分公众与其他人讨论他们的选择，和/或感受到社会压力，要求他们透露自己的投票结果。如果选民预计她可能会将自己的选择透露给其他人，她在投票站的选择将受到她预计其他人会如何回应她的选择的影响，从而带来与团体成员身份或选民S社会环境中常见的政治亲和力相关的社会压力。该项目通过对选民信仰进行更大范围和更全面的研究，使我们能够更好地了解关于投票保密的信念的原因和后果。试点工作表明，对选票保密性的怀疑在少数群体成员中更为普遍(即使考虑到收入、年龄和教育程度)。这一点值得注意，原因有几个。对投票保密性的担忧可能会破坏人们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部分人口因投票选择而感受到更大的社会压力。这些社会影响可能会压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(例如登记规则)对人们对投票保密性的看法的影响。如果一个人希望设计选举机构或公共教育活动，使(潜在的)选民意识到投票保密的法律保护，了解体制规则和程序如何影响关于投票保密的信念是特别令人关切的。尽管一些工作已经研究了制度因素如何影响关于一张S的选票是否会被适当计算的信念(例如，阿尔瓦雷斯、霍尔和卢埃林2008)，但还没有进行过记录或衡量特定改革(例如，选举监督员或邮寄投票)对投票保密性认知的影响的研究。

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.