Near the end of King Mosiah’s² reign, his subjects were polled on who should be their king (Mosiah 29:1) and answered that they wanted Aaron, Mosiah’s son, to rule them (Mosiah 29:2). Aaron had gone to the land of Nephi and would not take the kingdom, nor would any of Mosiah’s other sons, so Mosiah proposed governance by judges chosen by the voice of the people rather than by a king, warning that an unrighteous king does much iniquity and that each man should answer for his own sins (Mosiah 29:3, 29:11-26).
The people relinquished their desire for a king and became anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout the land, each willing to answer for his own sins (Mosiah 29:38). They assembled in bodies throughout the land to cast their voices for who should be their judges (Mosiah 29:39), and appointed judges to rule over them and judge them according to the law throughout all the land (Mosiah 29:41).