In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, cardinals, in red, attend a Mass for the election of a new pope celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, figure at the center of the stage beneath the Bernini baldachin, inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Tuesday, March 12, 2013. Cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday to elect the next pope amid more upheaval and uncertainty than the Catholic Church has seen in decades: There's no front-runner, no indication how long voting will last and no sense that a single man has what it takes to fix the many problems. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

The Associated Press

One thing is sure -- the new pope will never truly know who voted for him.

Cardinals used to sign their names to ballots, but stopped doing so "due to an old history of intrigues and tensions, when people used to fear the most serious reprisals for their choices," says Michael Bruter, who teaches political science at the London School of Economics.

Even so, factions of cardinals will have made their views known during informal talks between votes.

Romain Lachat, a political scientist at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, says the formation of coalitions -- where voting cardinals slowly rally around a man who may only be their second or third choice -- is inevitable.

There is no formal process of elimination and cardinals can even vote for themselves -- which may explain why conclaves often need more than one round of balloting to produce a pope.

-- Frank Jordans -- Twitter http://twitter.com/wirereporter

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"Pope Live" follows the choice of the new pope as seen by journalists from The Associated Press around the world. It will be updated throughout the day with breaking news and other items of interest. Follow AP reporters on Twitter where available.

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