Ballot Act 1872

Ballot Act 1872[1]
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to amend the Law relating to Procedure at Parliamentary and Municipal Elections.
Citation35 & 36 Vict. c. 33
Introduced byEdward Aldam Leatham
Territorial extent 
  • England and Wales
  • Scotland
  • Ireland
Dates
Royal assent18 July 1872
Commencement18 July 1872
Expired31 December 1880
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes
Relates to
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Ballot Act 1872[1] (35 & 36 Vict. c. 33) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced the requirement for parliamentary and local government elections in the United Kingdom to be held by secret ballot.[2][3][4] The act abolished the traditional hustings system of nomination and election in Britain.[5]

  1. ^ a b This short title was conferred on this act by section 33 of this act.
  2. ^ archive.org: "The Ballot Act, 1872, with an Introduction: Forming a Guide to the Procedure at Parliamentary and Municipal Elections", p. 97 (Fitzgerald, London, 1876)
  3. ^ telegraph.co.uk: "Our voting system is flawed, but politicians don't seem to care" (Moore) 30 May 2014
  4. ^ www.parliament.uk: 1872 Ballot Act (archival record)
  5. ^ Jon Lawrence, Electing Our Masters: The Hustings in British Politics from Hogarth to Blair (Oxford University Press, 2009), pp. 45–48.