Vote censitaire

One calls vote censitaire the mode of vote in which the voter S are only the people of the population who pay a tax of a precise amount called taxable quota . The participants in the life Politique are determined by the Cens. To be eligible voter, or , it is necessary to have a Cens (tax) exceeding a threshold determined by the electoral law in force.

For example, in France, the elected officials of the Tiers state with the General states of 1789, which transformed later on into constituent Assembly, were elected by old men of more than 25 years and paying the tax, the Constitution of 1791 maintains this vote censitaire (with two degrees, indirect suffrage thus). Only the Constitution of year I, ever applied, envisaged to found a right to vote not censitaire. The members of the the Council of the Five hundred, National Assembly established by the Constitution of year III, had been elected by the vote censitaire, old of more than 30 years and residing for at least ten years on the national territory. The Restauration maintains this voting system censitaire between 1815 and 1848: of 1814 with 1830, are voter S those which pay a taxable quota higher than 300 F, and eligible those which pay a taxable quota higher than 1 000 F and which has more than 40 years. In 1847, are voter S those which pay a taxable quota higher than 100 F.

In Belgium, the vote censitaire was used since independence (1830) until in 1894. Initially, the taxable quota was variable according to the areas: it was higher in the cities than in the rural regions. In 1848, it was brought back for all the country to 42,20 francs (minimum envisaged by the Constitution). In 1894, it was replaced by a plural Vote, which gave inter alia one (to legislative) or two (with communal) additional voices according to the level of paiment of the tax.

This mode of vote is to be put in prospect with the theory for the national Souveraineté. Sovereignty belongs to the nation, the right to vote is thus not a right for the citizens but a function, following the example right which rises from the theory of the popular Souveraineté.

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