A faggot voter or faggot was a person who qualified to vote in an election with a restricted

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to ...

only by the exploitation of

loophole A loophole is an ambiguity or inadequacy in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system. Originally, the word meant an arrowslit, a narrow verti ...

s in the regulations. Typically, faggot voters satisfied a property qualification by holding the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

to a subdivision of a large property with a single beneficial owner. Faggot voting was a common electoral abuse in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...

until the

electoral reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of: * Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-ru ...

s of the late 19th century.

Etymology

The word ''faggot'' originally meant a piece or bundle of gathered

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...

. It was later applied to civilians added to a military

muster roll The term muster means the process or event of accounting for members in a military unit. This practice of inspections led to the coining of the English idiom , meaning being sufficient. When a unit is created, it is "mustered in" and when it is d ...

purely to make up the numbers rather than to serve as

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

s. The extension from muster rolls to

electoral roll An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broke ...

s is attested from 1817.

Practices

In the

Unreformed House of Commons "Unreformed House of Commons" is a name given to the House of Commons of Great Britain and (after 1800 the House of Commons of the United Kingdom) before it was reformed by the Reform Act 1832, the Irish Reform Act 1832, and the Scottish Refor ...

, and for decades after the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the elect ...

, voting in a

geographical constituency In Hong Kong, geographical constituencies, as opposed to functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituencies. There are currently 5 geographical constituencies in Hong Kong, return ...

was restricted to those with an "interest" (i.e.

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

) in the constituency, generally in the form of

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

. If a landowner subdivided a single property into multiple units, and transferred the title of each unit into the name of a separate person, each titleholder could then register to vote. These "faggot voters" were expected to vote according to the wishes of the original landowner; the lack of secret ballot ensured they complied with the landowner's wishes. Prohibition of

vote buying Vote buying (also referred to as electoral clientelism and patronage politics) occurs when a political party or candidate distributes money or resources to a voter in an upcoming election with the expectation that the voter votes for the actor hand ...

was difficult to enforce if the faggot was an employee of the landowner. There was no requirement for a voter to be resident; the landowner and faggot voter might both reside outside the constituency. Although the original forty shilling freehold suffrage of 1432 applied to

freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple * Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England * Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...

rather than

leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...

, it had been widened gradually over the centuries, increasing the number of loopholes by which faggot voters might register. Edward Porritt found the earliest instances of faggot voting in the 1620s under

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. The Parliamentary Elections Act 1695 (7 & 8 Will. III c.25) prohibited subdivision of

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

s for this purpose. In the 18th century, a freehold would be conveyed to the faggot just before the election, and back again straight after the vote. The

sheriffs of the City of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

are elected by the liverymen of the livery companys. Richard Causton, himself an MP and liveryman, said in the debate on the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...

that "anyone who wanted a vote could go down to the City with £12 in his pocket, and get the right to vote ... There were liverymen who had no connection with the City beyond the fact that they were faggot voters". His amendment to restrict the vote to "men who had business in the City of London" was defeated.

Abolition

Subdivision of property other than to bona fide titleholders was prohibited for the franchise in borough constituencies by the Representation of the People Act 1867 and in county constituencies by the

Representation of the People Act 1884 In the United Kingdom under the premiership of William Gladstone, the Representation of the People Act 1884 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 3, also known informally as the Third Reform Act) and the Redistribution Act of the following year were laws which ...

. However, previously enrolled faggot voters retained their vote until death. This was rendered irrelevant by the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, als ...

, which introduced

manhood suffrage Universal manhood suffrage is a form of voting rights in which all adult male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification. It is sometimes summarized by the slog ...

References

{{reflist Electoral fraud Political history of the United Kingdom Parliament of the United Kingdom

Etymology

Practices

Abolition

See also

References