the right to vote was exercised by all resident householders of the borough who were not receiving alms, an unusually liberal franchise for the period in any but the smallest towns, which meant that there were about 500 qualified voters. this arose from the chance that a dispute over the franchise arose in 1624, and the house of commons had to decide whether only the freeholders could vote or if the right should extend to all the householders. the 1620s was a rare period when the commons as a matter of policy tended to decide for the broadest interpretation in franchise disputes (all 15 cases brought before them in that decade were resolved in favour of the solution which enfranchised most voters), and consequently in cirencester the householders acquired the right of which they were never subsequently deprived (and which was later confirmed at another disputed election in 1724). another election petition, in 1709, turned on whether the inhabitants of the abbey, emery and sperringate lane sections of the town were included within the borough; the commons ruled that they were, but they were excluded again after yet another disputed election in 1792.