After the officials cast their votes, it was the turn of assistant ministers and ministers.
Each assistant minister could take one pebble and cast their votes. Here, the vote was more pragmatic but also more balanced –
Not a single assistant minister used white pebbles, and the final result was a mix of red and black.
Since over half the assistant ministers were present, those that couldn't attend didn't have to specifically give their vote through letter or otherwise.
The ministers could each take three pebbles, and when it came to that, the voting was more casual than of the two groups before – some didn't have a particular favourite and simply cast one pebble of each colour, others liked one side more and voted two of that side while giving one to the other side…
In general, the voting was balanced between red and black, with three white pebbles also left over.
Finally, it was the Grand Minister's vote, who had 14 votes...
