by Marilyn Fish
Voting in the annual town election is a time-honored Massachusetts practice but over time the method of casting ballots has changed. In 1892, Becket adopted the Australian ballot system, the system in which voters mark their choices in the privacy of a voting booth on uniform ballots that list all candidates and are printed and distributed by the government. The system was first introduced in Victoria and South Australia in 1856 and was extensively adopted in the United States after the presidential election of 1884. Earlier elections were conducted by voice vote or with “party tickets,” slips of paper listing only the members of one party. These were easily identified by party officials as voters inserted them into unsecured ballot boxes.
Dissatisfaction by some to the new approach was anticipated, as noted in the accompanying Berkshire County Eagle article. Also, based on the article it appears that at that time the town meeting and town election were held on the same day.
