page_title: Papal conclave
section_title: Voting
hierarchical_section_title: Papal conclave / Modern practice / Voting
caption_attribution_description: English: Card. Roger Mahony's scrutiny ballot, conclave procedural handbook, ballot card and blue Pilot G-2 pen used at the 2013 Papal Conclave.
context_page_description: A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. The pope is considered by Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Catholic Church.
  Concerns around political interference led to reforms after the interregnum of 1268–1271 and Pope Gregory X's decree during the Second Council of Lyons in 1274 that the cardinal electors should be locked in seclusion cum clave and not permitted to leave until a new pope had been elected. Conclaves are now held in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace.
  Since the Apostolic Age, the bishop of Rome, like other bishops, was chosen by the consensus of the clergy and laity of the diocese. The body of electors was more precisely defined when, in 1059, the College of Cardinals was designated the sole body of electors. Since then, other details of the process have developed. In 1970, Pope Paul VI limited the electors to cardinals under 80 years of age in Ingravescentem aetatem. The current procedures were established by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis as amended by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and 2013.
context_section_description: On the afternoon of the first day, one ballot (referred to as a "scrutiny") may be held, but is not required. If a ballot takes place on the afternoon of the first day and no-one is elected, or no ballot had taken place, a maximum of four ballots are held on each successive day: two in each morning and two in each afternoon. Before voting in the morning and again before voting in the afternoon, the electors take an oath to obey the rules of the conclave. If no result is obtained after three vote days of balloting, the process is suspended for a maximum of one day for prayer and an address by the senior Cardinal Deacon. After seven further ballots, the process may again be similarly suspended, with the address now being delivered by the senior Cardinal Priest. If, after another seven ballots, no result is achieved, voting is suspended once more, the address being delivered by the senior Cardinal Bishop. After a further seven ballots, there shall be a day of prayer, reflection and dialogue. In the following ballots, only the two names who received the most votes in the last ballot shall be eligible in a runoff election where a two-third majority is still required. However, the two people who are being voted on, if Cardinal electors, shall not themselves have the right to vote.
  The process of voting comprises three phases: the "pre-scrutiny", the "scrutiny", and the "post-scrutiny."
caption: Today, cardinal electors receive copies of multiple ballot cards, scrutiny ballots, and a copy of Ordo Rituum Conclavis (Order for Rites in a Conclave). Shown above are the ballot papers of Cardinal Roger Mahony used in the 2013 conclave.
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