# Legislators who use a secret ballot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legislators-who-use-a-secret-ballot/817355 "2018-07-06T00:13:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legislators-who-use-a-secret-ballot/817355/1 "2018-07-06T00:13:28Z")
Are there any states or countries whose Legislature uses a secret ballot in order to pass bills? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legislators-who-use-a-secret-ballot/817355/2 "2018-07-06T00:38:40Z")
Not quite the same, but voice votes are anonymous. Congress uses them for routine matters and they’re official, unless someone challenges the result. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legislators-who-use-a-secret-ballot/817355/3 "2018-07-06T00:51:43Z")
I consider it a middle step. It’s anonymous to the outside world (mostly) but not to those around you (like a party Whip). But yes, I would also be interested in knowing about voice votes. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legislators-who-use-a-secret-ballot/817355/4 "2018-07-06T01:23:38Z")
Italy used to use them, but it was a bad idea. Members would say they planned to vote for a bill, and it would go forward because it had a majority of support lined up, and then would be defeated in the chamber on a secret ballot. And every member who had said they would vote for it would say afterwards that they had voted for it; must have been someone else who had reneged. Made it very difficult to plan for legislation, and impossible for voters to hold their members to account. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legislators-who-use-a-secret-ballot/817355/5 "2018-07-06T03:52:23Z")
I believe the Canadian parliament has a secret ballot to elect the Speaker of the House. This helps prevent the majority party from twisting arms to put a partisan person in the speaker’s chair. The speaker gets elected by members without the Prime Minister being able to dictate the choice. (Too much pressure can backfire) ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legislators-who-use-a-secret-ballot/817355/6 "2018-07-06T05:02:47Z")
As has been pointed it, it’s very bad for electoral accountability to not know how your representatives voted. I’m surprised anyone has ever used them in an electoral representative democracy.