Accessus is a term applied to the voting in
conclaveA papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who becomes the pope, when there is a vacancy in the office. The pope is considered by Catholics to be the successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Catholic Church...
for the election of a
popeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
, by which a
cardinalA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
changes his vote and accedes to some other candidate. Accessus voting was first used in the
papal conclave, 1455The papal conclave from April 4-8, 1455 elected Alfonso Borja Pope Callixtus III following the death of Pope Nicholas III. The conclave was the first in the Apostolic Palace, the site of all but five papal conclave thereafter...
. The procedure was likely adopted from the
Roman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government...
where an acceding Senator would physically move to join the proponents of a proposal.
When the votes of the cardinals have been counted after the first balloting and the two-thirds majority has fallen to none of those voted for, at the following vote opportunity is granted for a cardinal to change his vote, by writing "
Accedo domino Cardinali", mentioning one of those who have been voted for, but not the cardinal for whom he has already voted.
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Accessus is a term applied to the voting in
conclaveA papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who becomes the pope, when there is a vacancy in the office. The pope is considered by Catholics to be the successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Catholic Church...
for the election of a
popeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
, by which a
cardinalA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
changes his vote and accedes to some other candidate. Accessus voting was first used in the
papal conclave, 1455The papal conclave from April 4-8, 1455 elected Alfonso Borja Pope Callixtus III following the death of Pope Nicholas III. The conclave was the first in the Apostolic Palace, the site of all but five papal conclave thereafter...
. The procedure was likely adopted from the
Roman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government...
where an acceding Senator would physically move to join the proponents of a proposal.
When the votes of the cardinals have been counted after the first balloting and the two-thirds majority has fallen to none of those voted for, at the following vote opportunity is granted for a cardinal to change his vote, by writing "
Accedo domino Cardinali", mentioning one of those who have been voted for, but not the cardinal for whom he has already voted. If he should not wish to change his vote, the cardinal can vote "
Nemini" ( "for no one" ). If these supplementary votes of accession, added to those a candidate has received, equal two-thirds of the total vote, then there is an election. If not, the ballots are burned, and the usual ballot takes place the next day.