1-150-661 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

Come to Grief, 1872. A distressed Ballot Bill makes his way from the House of Lords, hotly pursued by the peers. This relates to the Ballot Bill's passage through the Lords in June 1872. Two amendments had been made. One was designed to keep track of voters by marking their numbers on the counterfoil of the papers. The second was to make secrecy optional. In the Commons, debate ensued and eventually the Lords withdrew the power of optional secrecy. From Punch, or the London Charivari, June 29, 1872.