The balloting course of for the papal conclave could also be shrouded in secrecy, however it’s easy.
Every conclave member writes his selection on a paper poll slip and folds it as soon as in half. He then carries it aloft between two fingers as he walks to the altar.
The slip is then deposited right into a particular urn used just for the balloting course of.
Conclave members are instructed to put in writing their votes “so far as doable in handwriting that can’t be recognized as his” to make sure anonymity.
Cardinals take their oath within the Sistine Chapel because the conclave to elect a brand new Pope begins in The Vatican, Could 7, 2025.
Vatican Media
Any conclave member who can not make it in individual to the Sistine Chapel as a result of sickness or infirmity casts his poll from this room within the Domus Marthae Sanctae. These ballots are positioned in a lockbox and carried to the Sistine Chapel.
Three scrutineers then rely the votes by affirming what’s written on every poll and asserting it to the conclave, which permits the cardinals to file the votes themselves.
The primary candidate to safe two-thirds of the votes is elected as the subsequent pope.
Learn extra concerning the conclave right here.