The Democratic Duties of Voters: revisiting arguments against the secret ballot and voluntary voting

Those troubled by the secret ballot like to stress that secret voting precludes accountability, and that voters have duties to others. But while voters indeed have duties to those who cannot vote, they have no claim to hold each other accountable as voters whether individually or collectively. Power requires accountability, to be sure; but we misconceive the circumstances of voters, their rights, duties and relationship to each other if we suppose that they should, in effect, be each others judges qua voters. As we will see, that would be to confuse the moral and political in ways that are democratically problematic and to exacerbate, rather than respond to, the failures of democracy that make being a voter such a depressing, often alienating and infuriating experience at present.