Formal voting rights do not empower groups without structured electoral weight.

Evidence

In the early days, entry to the Senate was only by birth and rank—so the patricians called the shots. Even in the Comitia Centuriata, instituted in about 450 BCE, entry was restricted initially to the patricians and the plebeians were kept at bay. Even after the Comitia Centuriata came to include plebeians, its organisation and voting system nevertheless gave greater influence to the rich than to the poor, which as Ambedkar points out, resembled the Communal Award. Ambedkar understands, in the caste context, the plight of plebeians with voting rights as being similar to that of Untouchables who were denied a separate electorate—the mere right to vote does not necessarily empower them. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1060

Categorization

• XREF: Mirrors Ambedkar’s core caste-annihilation claim that legal/formal equality absent structural redistribution leaves the oppressed weak—echoes Roman voting parallels in the main text. — connects to: White Christian nationalism treats voting as a right limited to worthy groups — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 313