The Elector Counts are the sovereign rulers of the great provinces of the Empire, and the men and women who choose its Emperor. When an Emperor dies, it is not his son who inherits by right but the candidate the Electors raise up by their votes — a system devised by Sigmar himself to keep the crown from becoming the prize of a single bloodline, and a source of intrigue, bribery, and civil war ever since.
Most Electors are the counts of the provinces, but the roll also includes the Arch Lectors of the Cult of Sigmar and the rulers of the great free cities, so that faith and commerce as well as land have a voice in the choosing. Each provincial Elector bears one of the twelve Runefangs — magical swords forged in ages past by the dwarf smith Alaric the Mad, keen enough to cut through armour and stone alike, and passed from count to count as the very symbol of their office.
In theory the Electors serve the Emperor; in practice each is a near-king, with an army at his back and grievances older than most nations. Weak Emperors have seen the Electors ignore them entirely, and the Empire has more than once fractured into rival claimants and open war. Yet in the direst hours — when Chaos marches or the greenskin tide rises — the counts have always, eventually, set down their quarrels and answered the call, and it is that grudging unity that has kept the Empire alive.