who was allowed to vote in the roman republic
unknown citizens
title: Elections in the Roman Republic text: “rule by the people” a more attainable goal. Voting for most offices was open to all full Roman citizens, a group that excluded women, slaves and originally those living outside of Rome. In the early Republic the electorate would have been small, but as Rome grew it expanded. The "Lex Julia" of 90 BCE extending voting rights to citizens across Italy greatly expanded the franchise. By the final Republican census of 70 BCE there were 910,000 possible electors. One unknown is how the Romans kept track of who was eligible to vote. Debates over the franchise were frequent, and differentiating title: Roman Republic text: of emergency, instead of appointing a dictator. The legal status of Roman citizenship was limited and was a vital prerequisite to possessing many important legal rights such as the right to trial and appeal, to marry, to vote, to hold office, to enter binding contracts, and to special tax exemptions. An adult male citizen with the full complement of legal and political rights was called "optimo jure." The optimo jure elected their assemblies, whereupon the assemblies elected magistrates, enacted legislation, presided over trials in capital cases, declared war and peace, and forged or dissolved treaties. There were two types of title: Constitution of the Roman Republic text: there is naught but a magistrate. Assemblies did not consist of the whole Roman people () as only adult male citizens were permitted to participate. Until the Social War around 90 BC, Italian non-Romans were prohibited from voting as well. That civil war, between Rome and her Italian allies, led to various laws granting citizenship and voting rights to their Italian allies. There were three types of gatherings, the "comitia", the "concilium", and the "contio" or "conventio". The first two were formal gatherings where legal decisions were made. The first, the "comitia" (or "comitiatus"), was an assembly of all Roman title: Constitution of the Roman Republic text: were made by the convention. Voters met in conventions to deliberate prior to meeting in assemblies or councils to vote. Assemblies and councils operated according to established procedures overseen by the augurs. They could only be convened by magistrates, and citizens only voted on matters proposed by the presiding magistrate. Over the years, laws were passed which mandated a written ballot, attempted to reduce voter intimidation, and established procedures to watch over voting and prevent voter fraud. For elections, it was not a matter of who received the most votes, but rather who could first be approved by a majority title: Roman Republic text: powers (consuls and praetors). It also elected censors. Only the Comitia Centuriata could declare war, and ratify the results of a census. It also served as the highest court of appeal in certain judicial cases. The assembly of the tribes (i.e., the citizens of Rome), the Comitia Tributa, was presided over by a consul, and was composed of 35 tribes. The tribes were not ethnic or kinship groups, but rather geographical subdivisions. The order that the thirty-five tribes would vote in was selected randomly by lot. Once a measure received support from a majority of the tribes, the voting would