Accessus
ACCESSUS
In order to expedite the papal election, each cardinal, immediately after an inconclusive ballot, was allowed an additional vote in favor of a candidate other than the one for whom he had voted in the ballot; such additional votes were added to those cast in the ballot in the hope of effecting a two-thirds majority. This procedure was known as accessus, i.e., acceding to the latter candidate. A cardinal could use this right of accessus only once after each ballot; after 1621 he could not use it in his own favor. The complications involved in ensuring that a cardinal did not use it in his own favor or in favor of the candidate for whom he had already voted in the ballot prompted St. Pius X in 1904 to abolish it, replacing it with a second ballot that should take place immediately after each morning and evening ballot.
Bibliography: pius x, "Vacante Sede Apostolica" (apostolic constitution, Dec. 25, 1904), Codex iuris canonici, Document 1, par. 76. l. pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages (London-St Louis 1938–61) 27:117.
[b. forshaw]