(should know this, but..) is voting REALLY confidential?

[HazeltheMcWitch]

So of course I have cast my votes today.
But in doing so, was reminded that I don't really know if/how my vote is confidential. I believe it should be, but how can it be when I hand in my voting card to 1st lady, my details are checked and crossed off, then 1st lady said to the 2nd lady my reference number (eg 800), and I get handed a certain slip.

Please someone explain to me how this works, and reassure me that indeed my vote is still confidential!

To add - I am very ashamed that I don't know this; and that I have wondered before and have never sought the answer...!

I've often wondered this too, if anyone was so inclined it wouldn't be hard to work out who voted to whom with all the reference numbers on the voting sheet being assigned to each voter.

Oh, thank god it's not just me then!
Now, who will come along and enlighten us?!

I'm not even ashamed that I have never bothered to find out but yes, it would be nice if someone knew the answer.

Everyone gets handed the same slip. You're asked for your poll card number to make it easier to cross you off the registers but the slip you are given is not numbered or identifiable in any way.

www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,,-1051,00.html

I don't think it is confidential. I seem to remember a few years ago, Blunkett said so. A story about it was on Radio 4's Today programme. There was even a newspaper story years ago, where someone who had voted for a party, received a letter thanking them for voting for the party and asking them if they would they like to become a member. Obviously very unusual, but it highlighted that it is not secret. I think you can also be prosecuted for abusing a candidate etc. on your ballot paper.

I think todays was confidential. My slip of paper had no number on it. When I've voted in general elections I have wondered how confidential it is, as my reg number and slip number were the same, so if someone wanted to find out how I voted they could.
Claig I've often wanted to put @!!!xx but thought I would waste my vote as it would not be counted, never crossed my mind I could be 'had' for 'abusing' a candidate!!

I have deliberately spoiled a ballot before now, but nothing rude...

yes you can be identified. it is a lot of work but it can be done by cross referencing the id numbers given . this is how the police etc can work out what electrol fraud has been carried out. labour lib dems want electronic voting so they can identify your votes even easier.

Thanks all for replies. I had always thought voting was confidential, but not sure what gave me that impression.

So - over a decade after I started voting - I AM OUTRAGED !!!

It can be cross-referenced. My Dad made a big fuss about it at a polling station a few years ago.

It's not confidential - but in practice it is. They have to really really want to find out how you voted - for example, sometimes, if someone is suspected of organising electoral fraud, they randomly sample the ballots in affected boxes/postal voting batches, and ask those people if/how they voted (if they choose to answer) - large numbers of discrepancies is then used as evidence of ballot rigging.

But this is very very rare. Bear in mind that the people who count and look after ballots are just ordinary people (often, bank clerks). The effort required to cross-reference a vote for evil purposes would require a fairly extraordinary degree of malice.