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V OTING
This is one part of Nova Roma that everyone can participate in with minimal fuss. All citizens have the right to vote in both elections and when laws (called leges-- sing. lex) are up for consideration. When you first become a Citizen, the Censors should give you a voter code. You'll need that code to access the voting area of the website-- called the cista. (When there's a vote in progress, the webmaster will put a link to the cista on the main page of the website; when the vote's over, the link will disappear.) If you didn't get a code, or lost it, contact the censors to get a new one.
Voting in Nova Roma is done in one of three assemblies; called comitia. The people are further divided into both tribes and centuries. The censors will assign you to a tribe when you join, and your century will be determined once a year. Which century you are in depends on how active you are in Nova Roma; the more active you are, the more "century points" you'll get, and the higher-numbered century you'll be in. The trick is, there are fewer people in the higher-numbered centuries, so those people get a slightly bigger voice when voting. (Basically, it's a way to encourage people to participate, by giving them a very slight advantage in the centuries.)
The three assemblies are:
| Name | Who Votes? | Centuries or Tribes? | Who Calls It? |
| Comitia Centuriata | Everyone | Centuries | Consul or Praetor |
| Comitia Populi Tributa | Everyone | Tribes | Consul or Praetor |
| Comitia Plebis Tributa | Plebeians only | Tribes | Tribune of the Plebs |
Normally, the Comitia Populi Tributa does most of the lawmaking. That's because everybody votes, and because the voting is done by tribes, every vote has equal weight.
If there's a vote called, you'll usually hear about it on the main email list. There are also lists for the individual Comitiae, but the whole question of their role is still being discussed. It's an exciting time; you're coming in on the ground floor!
