Elections and Voting in the 19th Century
Today, the right to fair and free elections is almost taken for granted. However, many of the rights we have today as voters - including the right to a secret ballot and for elections to be duly supervised - were not commonplace until the late 19th century. Until this point, elections results were often open to corruption through practises including bribery and treating of electors, and intimidation and threatening of voters.
This section explores the way in which Parliament responded to calls for electoral reform in the 19th century.
What were voting conditions like in the 19th century? How did Parliament address corrupt practices in elections?
Parliamentary Archives and Norfolk Record Office worked with a local research group to explore elections in the 19th century