Democracies need to ensure the vote doesn't become too much of a danger to the established social order, the privileges of the property owning classes etc. One

Democracies need to ensure the vote doesn't become too much of a danger to the established social order, the privileges of the property owning classes etc. One of the mechanisms for this is secrecy; others are selective information disclosure, propaganda, cultural and religious signaling etc. And then there's more direct application of economic or physical pressure. If these weren't in place and effective, well... I am reminded of the famous maxim: > If voting could change anything, it would be illegal. I first heard this from Jello Biafra, but apparently it has been attributed to Emma Goldman, Mark Twain and is probably even older than that.