The body of Roman citizens was divided up into three separate voting assemblies, which elected different officials. Patricians were simultaneously members of two of these assemblies, and plebeians were members of all three.
The first was called the comitia centuriata. This assembly gathered together to elect consuls, praetors, and censors. It also presided over trials for treason and, before the Punic Wars, voted on most legislation; after the wars, another assembly became responsible for legislation. Citizens were divided up into 193 groups called centuries, and which century you were placed in was based upon your net worth as determined by the census. In the actual election, each century had one vote. Thus there were 193 total votes. To determine how the century would cast its vote, the members of each century voted among themselves; whatever the majority of the members decided was how the century's vote was cast. The system was similar to the American electoral college system in which all the electoral votes of a certain state are given to just one candidate.
The process at first glance seems democratic, but it really was not because citizens were not evenly divided among centuries. The very small number of wealthy Romans controlled the majority of the centuries. In essence, the vote of a rich man was weighted much more than the vote of a poor one. Not everyone voted at the same time; instead, voting started with the richest centuries, who would cast their votes, and then moved downward. As soon as a majority (97 votes) was reached, the election was over. Therefore, poor voters were often deprived of the opportunity to cast their ballots.
The next assembly was called the comitia tributa. In this case, instead of being divided up by wealth, all citizens were divided up by geography into 35 tribes. There were 4 urban tribes and 31 rural ones. The comitia tributa elected aediles and quaestors and voted on most legislation. The sys-tern was similar to that of the comitia centuriata in which each tribe voted among themselves and then the entire tribe cast a single vote. In this election, there were 35 total votes, and whoever got a majority of 18 won. Once again, even though it looks democratic, the system favors the rich, though in a more subtle way. Elections were held at Rome, and one had to be physically present to cast a vote. There were no absentee ballots, and everyone voted in one place. Thus if you wanted to vote, you had to travel to Rome, which required time and money—things only the rich had. The poor people who lived in Rome could and did certainly vote, but since they were all grouped into the four urban tribes, they only had 4 out of 35 votes.
The final important assembly was the concilia plebis. It was organized in the same way as the comitia tributa with 35 tribes and voted in the same way. The only difference was that all patricians were excluded, and its main function was to elect tribunes.
World History
