Householder Franchise or ''census suffrage'' is where a homeowner has the right to vote in an

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

. This is a limited form of

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

, but different from

equal voting 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 v ...

because, to borrow a dictum, householder franchise is ''one Household, one vote'' because it entitles only the householder one vote.

History

The 1832 Reform Act expanded the number of voters in the United Kingdom. In the

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

the right of voting was vested in all householders paying a yearly rental of £10 and, subject to one year residence qualification £10 lodgers (if they were sharing a house and the landlord was not in occupation). In the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, the franchise was granted to: # 40 shilling freeholders # £10 copyholders # £50 tenants # £10 long lease holders # £50 medium lease holders Borough freeholders could vote in the counties if their freehold was between 40 shillings and £10, or if it was over £10 and occupied by a tenant.

References

Elections {{Law-term-stub