Much of the decisions regarding the administration of Southern Rhodesia was made by the British South Africa Company (BSAC).

[1] The Letters Patent granting the colony the right to self-government in 1923 made no change to the pre-existing franchise.

The law provided that voters must have been resident in Southern Rhodesia for at least six months, and have the ability to complete the claim form for the electoral register in their own handwriting if the registrar required, and to write from dictation 50 words in the English language.

In addition, voters had to meet one of three criteria for their financial means: either occupy property worth £150 in their Electoral District, or own a registered mining claim within the colony (for which residence was not required), or receive annual salary of £100 in the colony.

No change was made to the basic electoral procedure, which continued to be the first past the post system, cast by means of the secret ballot.