Electoral Act 1856
Electoral Act 1856 | ||
---|---|---|
Victorian Legislative Council | ||
Long title
| ||
Citation | 19 Vic. No. 12 | |
Territorial extent | Bill title Victoria Electoral Bill[1] | |
Introduced by | William Stawell[1] | |
Introduced | 27 November 1855[1] | |
First reading | 28 November 1855[1] | |
Second reading | 9 January 1856[1] | |
Third reading | 13 March 1856[1] | |
Repealed by | ||
The Constitution Act Amendment Act 1890 (54 Vict. No. 1075)[2] | ||
Status: Repealed |
The Electoral Act 1856
The Act was passed by a one-vote majority in the outgoing Legislative Council on 13 March 1856, and received assent from the Governor of Victoria on 19 March of the same year,[5] in time for the election of the new Parliament of Victoria later that year. The innovation of the secret ballot was pioneered in Victoria by the former mayor of Melbourne, William Nicholson.[6]
Victoria was the fourth jurisdiction in the world to enacted a law for a secret ballot. France adopted a secret ballot law in 1795. The movement for a secret ballot in South Australia was led by pioneer and advocate South Australian Electoral Commissioner William Boothby.[7] Tasmania adopted a secret ballot law on 7 February 1856. South Australia enacted a similar law two weeks after the Victorian law, on 2 April 1856. The South Australian system in 1858 required an elector to place an X against the name of his preferred candidate instead of crossing out unwanted names and for the ballot paper to show 'no other matter or thing' apart from the names of candidates and on the back the returning officer's initials.[7] The other Australian colonies followed the SA example: New South Wales (1858), Queensland (1859), and Western Australia (1877). New Zealand implemented secret voting in 1870.
When the secret ballot was adopted in the United States, it was called 'the Australian ballot'.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Council 1855–1856" (PDF). Melbourne: Parliament of Victoria. pp. xxii, 12–13, 92, 255. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ a b The Constitution Act Amendment Act 1890 (Vic)
- ^ Museum of Australian Democracy, Documenting a Democracy, Electoral Act 1856 (Vic)
- ^ a b Section 36 of Act
- ^ Payment of Members Act 1870 (Vic)
- ^ Blainey, G 2016, ‘'The story of Australia’s people: the rise and rise of a new Australia'’, Viking, Penguin Random House, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia, p.18.
- ^ a b Australian Dictionary of Biography, William Boothby
Further reading
- National Archives of Australia. Documenting Democracy - Electoral Act 1856 (Vic)
- Terry Newman, 'Tasmania and the Secret Ballot' (2003), 49(1) Aust J Pol & Hist 93 [1]