What Is the Masonic Ballot? How Voting and the Blackball System Work

The word blackball has passed into ordinary English as a byword for exclusion, and many candidates who hear it in a Masonic context imagine a hostile vote by a roomful of strangers. The reality, as I have witnessed it at many hundreds of ballots, is a quiet and dignified moment, almost always ending in the candidate's favour.

The ballot is the vote by which a lodge decides whether to accept a petitioner. It follows the report of the investigating committee and precedes the first degree. Understanding how it works, and why it is designed as it is, will remove much of the anxiety surrounding it.

§The ballot box

In most lodges the ballot is taken using a wooden ballot box with two compartments. One holds a supply of white balls and black cubes, or in some lodges black balls. The other, screened from view, receives the vote. Each member present steps forward in turn, takes one ball or cube, and places it unseen into the voting compartment.

• A white ball signifies approval.
• A black cube or ball signifies objection.

When all have voted, the box is carried to the Junior and Senior Wardens and then to the Worshipful Master, who inspect the result. The Master declares the ballot clear or not. No one sees how any individual voted. In some jurisdictions, electronic or slip ballots are now permitted, but the principle of secrecy remains the same.

§Why unanimity?

In most American and many other jurisdictions, a single black cube rejects the petition. Some Grand Lodges permit one, two or three adverse votes before rejection, and English practice allows the lodge's by laws to set the threshold within limits. But the principle of near unanimity is widespread, and it can seem harsh to an outsider.

The reasoning is simple. A lodge depends on harmony. Its members will spend years in one another's company, sometimes decades. If even one member knows something serious about a candidate, a history of dishonesty, violence or bad faith, the ballot allows him to protect the lodge without having to make a public accusation. It is a safeguard for the fraternity, and also, curiously, for the candidate, who is spared a public airing of whatever lay behind the objection.

§How often is a candidate rejected?

Rarely. By the time a petition reaches the ballot, the candidate has usually met many members, been recommended by two of them, and been visited by the investigating committee. If a serious concern exists, it normally surfaces earlier, and the petition is quietly withdrawn or held. In my own lodge, across more than twenty years, I recall perhaps three rejections. The Investigating Committee explains why that step catches most problems.

The ballot is also not a test of popularity. Members are expected to vote according to their honest judgment of the candidate's fitness, not personal dislike. A brother who blackballs a candidate out of spite is violating his own obligation, and the fraternity regards that as a grave fault.

The best way to pass the ballot is to be well prepared long before it. Take the free Readiness Quiz to see where you stand on the requirements lodges care about.

§If the ballot is clear

If the ballot is favourable, the Secretary will contact you to arrange your initiation, often at the next meeting or within a few weeks. You will be told what to wear and when to arrive. What to Wear to Your Initiation and What Happens at Your First Degree prepare you for that evening.

§If the ballot is not clear

If a petition is rejected, the Secretary will inform the candidate, usually by a courteous letter. No reason will be given, because none is known officially. Most jurisdictions then require a waiting period, commonly six months to a year, before the candidate may petition again, either to the same lodge or to another. Can a Felon Become a Freemason? explains the options and how to approach them with dignity.

In some jurisdictions a ballot may be retaken at the same meeting if the Master suspects a mistake, for instance if a brother picked the wrong piece in poor light. This is a narrow provision, and a second adverse result is final for that evening.

§Ballots beyond the petition

The same box is used for other decisions. Many lodges ballot before advancing a brother from one degree to the next, and on applications for affiliation by Masons joining from another lodge. In each case the principle of a secret and honest vote applies.

§How to prepare for your ballot

• Attend open events and dinners so that members know your face before the vote.
• Be honest on your petition and with the investigating committee.
• Choose recommenders who know you well and can speak for you.
• Be patient. Timing depends on the lodge calendar. How Long Does It Take to Join? gives realistic expectations.

You will not be present when the ballot is taken. Most candidates spend that evening at home, a little restless, waiting for a phone call. When it comes, it is nearly always good news.

§A word to the nervous candidate

If you are reading this the night before your ballot, take a breath. The members voting have most likely met you, read the committee's report and already formed a good opinion. Many of them remember their own ballot night and the long wait for the phone to ring. The ballot is not designed to trip you up. It is designed to confirm what the lodge already believes about you. If you have been honest throughout, you have done everything you can. Spend the evening with your family, and read What Is the Tyler? to meet the first officer you will see on your initiation night.

The ballot box, for all its fearsome reputation, is in truth a symbol of the trust brethren place in one another. When you one day stand before it with a white ball in your hand, voting on a candidate of your own, you will understand why it matters.