How were the elections held in Ancient Greece and Rome as the countries of birthplace of democracy and modern elections? Was the will of the people taken into account or was it in the hands of high-ranking officials? We will try to answer these questions.

People determined their leaders by voting in ancient times. People elected their leaders in national councils. So, the first manifestations of dominance was formed. It was a typical primitive democracy of ancient times. 

Today’s elections have a long history in all the democratic countries. The history of modern elections has contributed to the political life of the country, as well as all free citizens participated in people’s assemblies. The will of the people in elections formed the basis of the country’s legislation in ancient Greece and Rome.

Open and secret ballots used in practice in Greece. Beans served as a «ballot paper»: white beans gave a «positive» answer and black beans a «negative» answer.        

There was another method of voting in ancient Athens. According to it, the people had the right to expel a statesman, who was suspected of endangering the foundations of democracy during his tenure. The citizen, who participated in the voting process, was given a ceramic pot. The citizen wrote on a ceramic pot the name of the person, who was expelled from Athens, as well as the citizen left the pot in a special place where it was organized and guarded in the city square. The candidate, who received the most votes, was expelled.

Pre-election activities started before elections in ancient Rome. The candidate told members of the government that he wanted to run in the election. Since then, pre-election activities started. The pre-election activities were as follows: the candidate wore a white dress (a white dress meant that the candidate had a clear conscience in front of the people), asked voters to vote for and support him, as well as he made his way to markets and squares. The voters wrote the names of the candidates on the special desk and threw them into the special ballot boxes on election day.

The Greeks’ ideas about a free society and equality (in the 5th and 1st centuries BC) were later actively practiced by the Roman Empire. The basis of the country’s independence was the people who expressed their wishes in the people’s councils. Laws were adopted and repealed, peace agreements were made, wars were declared, people’s representatives and clergy were elected, court rulings were discussed, as well as the most important decisions concerning the life of the country were made in the People’s Councils.