The Pope

Did you hear that there is a new pope? There is. Supposedly Pope Francis was the 2nd runner up last time they elected a pope. For some reason I have been obsessed with the process of selecting a new pope. I don't know why it is so interesting to me. I have researched this conclave and I have figured out what a cardinal is and arch bishops and bishops and I read the little biographies of the possible candidates. I learned why they have the black and white smoke, I even read about the red shoes. Did you know that the Cardinals take a vow of secrecy when they enter the conclave? They do with the threat of excommunication if they break it.. Did you know that of there are 115 Cardinals in the conclave and there must be a 2/3 majority to elect the new pope. Which leads me to my big question. If they take a vow of silence and they destroy the ballots (that is where the smoke plays in) how do they know who was the second runner up last time. If the only people in the conclave are the cardinals and they vow to keep silence and they burn any evidence how do we know who the runner ups are?

I think there is a leak.
On that note I am glad that the cardinals made a choice fairly quick because now I can return to my dinosaur research.