Prior to the grant of responsible government, Southern Rhodesia was governed by a Legislative Council from 1899 which consisted of some nominated and some elected members. The nominated members were appointed by the British South Africa Company, and consisted of the executive which ruled the colony; the number of elected members increased throughout the period as the number of European settlers in the colony increased.
Following the grant of responsible government in 1924, Southern Rhodesia's Parliament was unicameral, consisting of the Legislative Assembly on its own. Once Acts were passed by the Legislative Assembly, they were passed to the Governor to give assent on behalf of the British monarch. The Assembly had 30 seats until the 1961 constitution, when it was increased to 65 (50 constituencies and 15 districts). It was presided over by a Speaker; Southern Rhodesia differed from UK practice in that the Speaker was an ex officio member of the Legislative Assembly.
The colony of Southern Rhodesia took its base law from that of Cape Colony, suitably modified to retain European settler control. The base requirement was that an elector be a British subject, male, aged 21 or over, and able to write their own name and address and sign their name on the registration form. There were then three requirements which qualified voters.
a) Owner of a registered mining claim in Southern Rhodesia. b) Occupier of immovable property valued at £75. c) Receiving in Southern Rhodesia wages or salary of £50 per annum.
Under b) and c), voters must also have had six months residency in Southern Rhodesia.
In 1912, the literacy requirements were raised to require voters to write at dictation 50 words in the English language, if required by the registering officer. The means qualification under b) was raised to £150 and under c) to £100 per annum. Women were enfranchised in 1919, deemed to possess the same means qualification as their husbands.
The same qualifications were continued under responsible government. In 1928, the dictation test was eliminated, and, in 1938, the means qualifications were lifted from pensioners. The means qualifications were not raised until 1951, when the value of property required was increased to £500, and the annual wage requirement to £240.
In 1957, the residential qualification was raised to two years in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and the language requirement was raised to demand the ability to read and comprehend English. The means qualifications were changed to create upper and lower rolls and to allow for educational achievements to count towards means. Property ownership was required to have been held for two years and the mining claim qualification was eliminated.
Following the 1961 constitution, there were two voter rolls that were available to voters. The 'A' roll was the most important, with qualification dependent on meeting a financial and educational means test: in practice, the vast majority on the A roll were European. The 'B' roll had a reduced set of financial and educational qualifications, and the vast majority eligible for the B roll were African. However, African nationalists rejected the constitution and successfully persuaded most eligible African voters not to register.
Which roll an elector was on affected the value of their vote in a constituencies and districts. Both the rolls voted for each type of seat. For the constituencies, if the B roll total exceeded one-fifth of the total votes, it was devalued to a maximum of one-fifth. In practice, this never happened, due to the African nationalist campaign to boycott elections. For the districts, if the A roll total exceeded one-fifth of the total votes, it was devalued to a maximum of one-fifth. This always happened.