Voting in the conclave is a highly choreographed and highly scrutinized process that involves non-electing cardinals — usually churchmen over the age of 80 who are barred from voting — taking on different roles.
Nine ballot-officials chosen by the junior cardinal-deacon help keep the ballot process fair and running smoothly. They include three Scrutineers, who announce and count the votes; the Revisers, who check the work of the Scrutineers; and 3 Infirmarii, who collect ballots from any cardinal too unwell to make it from their lodgings to the Sistine Chapel for the vote.
When it’s time to vote, the masters of ceremonies and the secretary of the College of Cardinals must leave the cardinal-electors alone in the Sistine Chapel. The cardinals then proceed to the altar and hold their ballots aloft beneath Michelangelo’s Last Judgment so that they can be seen by all present.
Each cardinal kneels for a moment of prayer, before rising and saying, “I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected.” He then puts his ballot onto the paten, or small plate, from which it is tipped into a receptacle shaped like a large chalice. The cardinal then returns to his seat.
With all votes cast, the Scrutineers make sure that the right number of ballots is present, before giving the urn a shake and transferring the ballots one-by-one to another urn. If the number of ballots is off, all votes are immediately invalidated and burned, followed by another vote. If the count tallies, the ballots are then opened and counted.
Seated at a table before the altar, Scrutineer 1 opens a ballot, notes the name, and passes it on to Scrutineer 2. He also notes the name, before passing the ballot to Scrutineer 3, who reads out the name and marks his own “scorecard.” Cardinals are allowed to keep their own tally, too, but they have to be burned with the ballots at the end of each voting session.
After reading out each ballot, the Scrutineers thread the ballots together, knotting the tally at the end of counting. After the final ballots are opened, the Scrutineers tally the votes and write them on a separate sheet of paper.
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