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Why Your Ballot Is a Secret

7th grade nonfiction passage about the secret ballot: 259 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction the secret ballot 259 words

Why Your Ballot Is a Secret

Today, nobody can make you tell how you voted. You step into a booth or behind a screen, mark your choices, and drop the ballot into a box. It seems like the natural way to hold an election, but for a long time voting did not work this way.

In many places, voters once announced their choices out loud in front of a crowd. In other places, each party handed out its own colored tickets, and everyone could see which one a person placed in the box. A worker might worry that the boss was watching. A shopkeeper might worry about losing customers. Because a vote could be seen, it could also be pressured, and people sometimes offered money or favors for a particular choice, knowing they could check that it was delivered.

In the middle of the 1800s, governments in parts of Australia introduced a new system. The government itself printed one official ballot that listed every candidate, and voters marked it alone in private. By the end of that century, many American states had adopted the same idea, which became known as the Australian ballot.

The secret ballot works because it breaks the link between a promise and a proof. If no one can see how you voted, a person who tries to bribe or threaten you has no way to know whether you obeyed. That freedom protects every voter, whether they are popular or not.

Privacy has one limit. Voters may keep their choices secret, but they are always free to share them if they choose.

Questions

  1. How did many voters show their choices before secret ballots? in the text

  2. Where did the idea of one government-printed private ballot begin? in the text

  3. What did the government-printed ballot list? in the text

  4. Why might a worker have worried about voting in public? think about it

  5. How does a secret ballot protect voters from bribes? think about it

  6. Can a voter still tell others how they voted? in the text

Words to know

ballot
the paper or form on which a person marks a vote
candidate
a person who is trying to win an election
pressured
pushed or forced to act in a certain way
bribe
to give money or gifts to get someone to act a certain way
adopted
chose to take up and use as your own
Share

One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 198 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.8

Today, no one can make you tell how you voted. You go behind a screen. You mark your choices. You put the ballot in a box. That feels normal, but voting was not always like this.

Long ago, many voters said their choices out loud. In other places, each party gave out its own colored tickets. Everyone could see which ticket a person put in the box. A worker might fear the boss was watching. A shopkeeper might fear losing customers. If a vote could be seen, it could be pushed. People even paid money for votes, since they could check.

Then, in the middle of the 1800s, parts of Australia tried something new. The government printed one ballot with every candidate on it. Voters marked it alone. By the end of that century, many American states used the same idea. It was called the Australian ballot.

A secret ballot breaks the link between a promise and proof. No one can see your vote. So a person who tries to bribe or scare you cannot know if you obeyed.

There is one limit. You may keep your vote secret, but you can tell others if you want to.

▲ This passage · 259 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.9

Today, nobody can make you tell how you voted. You step into a booth or behind a screen, mark your choices, and drop the ballot into a box. It seems like the natural way to hold an election, but for a long time voting did not work this way.

In many places, voters once announced their choices out loud in front of a crowd. In other places, each party handed out its own colored tickets, and everyone could see which one a person placed in the box. A worker might worry that the boss was watching. A shopkeeper might worry about losing customers. Because a vote could be seen, it could also be pressured, and people sometimes offered money or favors for a particular choice, knowing they could check that it was delivered.

In the middle of the 1800s, governments in parts of Australia introduced a new system. The government itself printed one official ballot that listed every candidate, and voters marked it alone in private. By the end of that century, many American states had adopted the same idea, which became known as the Australian ballot.

The secret ballot works because it breaks the link between a promise and a proof. If no one can see how you voted, a person who tries to bribe or threaten you has no way to know whether you obeyed. That freedom protects every voter, whether they are popular or not.

Privacy has one limit. Voters may keep their choices secret, but they are always free to share them if they choose.

■ Harder · 271 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 10.7

Nowadays, nobody can compel you to reveal how you voted. You step into a booth or behind a privacy screen, mark your selections, and deposit the ballot in a box. Although this procedure seems like the natural way to conduct an election, voting did not always operate in such a manner.

In numerous places, voters once proclaimed their choices aloud in front of a crowd. Elsewhere, each political party distributed its own colored tickets, and onlookers could easily observe which one a person placed in the box. A laborer might worry that an employer was watching, and a shopkeeper might fear losing customers. Because a vote could be seen, it could also be pressured, and individuals sometimes offered money or favors in exchange for a particular choice, confident that they could verify that it had been delivered.

During the middle of the 1800s, governments in parts of Australia introduced a different system. The government itself printed a single official ballot that listed every candidate, and voters marked it alone and in private. By the close of that century, many American states had adopted the identical approach, which came to be known as the Australian ballot.

The secret ballot succeeds because it severs the connection between a promise and its proof. If nobody can observe how you voted, a person who attempts to bribe or threaten you has no means of knowing whether you complied. That freedom protects every voter, whether or not the voter is popular.

Privacy does have a single limit. Voters are entitled to keep their choices secret, yet they remain perfectly free to share them if they wish.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put ballot, candidate, pressured, bribe and adopted on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 3 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 4 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Why Your Ballot Is a Secret"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 259 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.9. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 3 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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