Tyranny Prefers Secret/Anonymous Balloting

 

“Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.” ― Joseph Stalin, Soviet dictator(1929-1953)

There is a common misconception that tyrants prefer public balloting over private balloting. This myth states that tyrants want to readily know who voted against them and their allies so they can target them.

While that myth does have a certain semblance of truth, it must be noted that the greatest deceptions and misconceptions will always have elements of truth. It is also true that if a citizen casts his or her vote publicly that he or she would possibly face a higher level of harassment. One must always internalize that freedom is never free. Individual liberty always comes with a price tag. That price tag is the responsibility of the electorate of individually disclosing his or her choice for public positions.

With public balloting, votes cast = votes counted, period. This provided total traceability and verification at all times. With anonymous/secret balloting, all voters just have to assume that each and every vote will be counted with 100% accuracy. The electorate is forced to take the PTBs word that all tabulation will be totally correct. An individual would have to be totally naive to think that this could be the case at all times. As a matter of fact, this could hardly be the case in most occasions.

With public balloting, an individual vote is meaningful on its own and by itself. With anonymous/secret balloting, it is part of a collective total in which all votes cast and nothing more are counted is the best case scenario.

Tyranny actually prefers anonymous/secret balloting. These forces can easily manipulate the election count without the electorate even realizing it. It would be so much easier for the PTBs to do that than intimidate individual voter(s). After all, even paper balloting totals can be manipulated if the votes are anonymously/secretly cast.