Raju says voting should be done openly by a show of hands, because a secret ballot looks like…

Why

Raju's link between openness and honesty is understandable, because in much of life hiding a choice does look suspicious. But an election is the one place where a visible choice is dangerous. If your vote can be seen, a landlord, an employer, a moneylender or a local strongman can watch how you vote and punish the wrong answer, and the poorest voter, who most needs the vote, is the easiest to lean on. Secrecy is not for the voter's comfort; it removes the threatener's power, because a threat is worthless if the outcome cannot be checked. The count is kept honest by other means: sealed machines, polling agents from every party, a paper trail. Test: ask who would gain if a poor village had to vote by a show of hands. Farida is right: the secret ballot is what protects a weak voter's free choice.