Other forms: secret ballots
A secret ballot is a voting system in which each person's vote is private. The earliest secret ballots involved writing on a blank piece of paper and slipping it into a sealed box.
Nearly every vote in the U.S. is cast using a secret ballot today, with the exception of state caucuses in primary elections, where voters sometimes gather in groups to publicly support their preferred candidate. Elections in ancient times often required public proclamations or the raising of hands in a group. The privacy of a secret ballot is believed to prevent tactics like blackmail, intimidation, or the attempt to "buy" votes by bribing voters.