Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies/Article 6

by Henry M. Robert

Layout 2

 

Art. VI. Vote.

[§§ 38, 39]

38. Voting. Whenever from the nature of the question it permits of no modification or debate, the Chairman immediately puts it to vote; if the question is debatable, when the Chairman thinks the debate has been brought to a close he should inquire if the assembly is ready for the question, and if no one rises he puts the question to vote. There are various forms for putting the question in use in different parts of the country. The rule in Congress, in the House of Representatives, is as follows: “Questions shall be distinctly put in this form, to wit: ‘As many as are of the opinion that [as the question may be] say Aye;’ and after the affirmative voice is expressed, ‘As many as are of the contrary opinion, say No.’” The following form is very common: “It has been moved and seconded that [here state the question]. As many as are in favor of the motion say Aye; those opposed No.” Or, if the motion is for the adoption of a certain resolution, after it has been read the Chairman can say, “You have heard the resolution read; those in favor of its adoption will hold up the right hand; those opposed will manifest it by the same sign.” These examples^[1] are sufficient to show the usual methods of putting a question, the affirmative being always put first.

When a vote is taken the Chairman should always announce the result in the following form: “The motion is carried—the resolution is adopted,” or, “The ayes have it—the resolution is adopted.” If, when he announces a vote, any member rises and states that he doubts the vote, or calls for a “division,” the Chairman shall say, “A division is called for; those in favor of the motion will rise.” After counting these, and announcing the number, he shall say, “Those opposed will rise.” He will count these, announce the number, and declare the result; that is, whether the motion is carried or lost. Instead of counting the vote himself, he can appoint tellers to make the count and report to him. When tellers are appointed, they should be selected from both sides of the question. A member has the right to change his vote (when not made by ballot) before the decision of the question has been finally and conclusively pronounced by the Chair, but not afterwards.

Until the negative is put, it is in order for any member, in the same manner as if the voting had not been commenced, to rise and speak, make motions for amendment or otherwise, and thus renew the debate; and this, whether the member was in the assembly room or not when the question was put and the vote partly taken. After the Chairman has announced the vote, if it is found that a member had risen and addressed the Chair before the negative had been put, he is entitled to be heard on the question, the same as though the vote had-not been taken. In such cases the question is in the same condition as if it had never been put.

No one can vote on a question affecting himself; but if more than one name is included in the resolution (though a sense of delicacy would prevent this right being exercised, excepting when it would change the vote) all are entitled to vote; for if this were not so, a minority could control an assembly by including the names of a sufficient number in a motion, say for preferring charges against them, and suspend them, or even expel them from the assembly.^[2]

When there is a tie vote the motion fails, unless the Chairman gives his vote for the affirmative, which in such case he can do. Where his vote will make a tie, he can cast it and thus defeat the measure [§ 40]. However, if there is a tie vote on the motion to “strike out” [§ 23] the words are struck out, because the question which has failed is, “Shall these words stand as a part of the resolution?” But in case of an Appeal [§ 14], though the question is, “Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the judgment of the assembly”? a tie vote sustains the Chair, upon the principle that the decision of the Chair can only be reversed by a majority.

Another form of voting is by ballot. This method is only adopted when required by the constitution or by-laws of the assembly, or when the assembly has ordered the vote to be so taken. The Chairman, in such cases, appoints at least two tellers, who distribute slips of paper, upon which each member, including the Chairman,^[3] writes his vote. The votes are then collected, counted by the tellers, and the result reported to the Chairman, who announces it to the assembly. The Chairman announces the result of the vote, in case of an election to office, in a manner similar to the following: “The whole number of votes cast is —; the number necessary for an election is —; Mr. A received —; Mr. B, —; Mr. C, —. Mr. B, having received the required number, is elected —.” Where there is only one candidate for an office, and the constitution requires the vote to be by ballot, it is common to authorize the clerk to cast the vote of the assembly for such and such a person; if anyone objects, however, it is necessary to ballot in the usual way. So, when a motion is made to make a vote unanimous, it fails if anyone objects. In counting the ballots all blanks are ignored.

The assembly can, by a majority vote, order that the vote on any question be taken by Yeas and Nays.^[4] In this method of voting the Chairman states both sides of the question at once; the clerk calls the roll, and each member, as his name is called, rises and answers yes or no, and the clerk notes his answer. Upon the completion of the roll-call the clerk reads over the names of those who answered in the affirmative, and afterwards those in the negative, that mistakes may be corrected; he then gives the number voting on each side to the Chairman, who announces the result. An entry must be made in the minutes of the names of all voting in the affirmative, and also of those in the negative.

The form of putting a question upon which the vote has been ordered to be taken by yeas and nays is similar to the following: “As many as are in favor of the adoption of these resolutions will, when their names are called, answer yes [or aye]; those opposed will answer no.” The Chairman will then direct the clerk to call the roll. The negative being put at the same time as the affirmative, it is too late, after the question is put, to renew the debate. After the commencement of the roll-call it is too late to ask to be excused from voting. The yeas and nays cannot be ordered in committee of the whole [§ 32].

39. Motions Requiring More than a Majority Vote. The following motions shall require a two-thirds vote for their adoption, all others requiring a majority, as the right of discussion, and the right to have the rules enforced, should not be abridged by a mere majority:

To Amend the Rules (requires previous notice also)	See § 45
To Suspend the Rules	See„ § 18
To Make a Special Order	See„ § 13
To Take up a Question out of its Proper Order	See„ § 13
An Objection to the Consideration of a Question[5]	See„ § 15
The Previous Question	See„ § 20
To Close or Limit Debate	See„ § 37

Note on Motions Requiring More than A Majority Vote.—Every motion in this list has the effect to suspend or change some rule or custom of deliberative bodies. Judging from their form, this would be true of only the first two, but a closer examination will show that the others have a similar effect.

To take up a question out of its proper order, is a change in the order of business.

An objection to the consideration of a question, if sustained, suspends or conflicts with the right of a member to introduce a measure to the assembly; a right which certainly has been established by custom, if it is not inherent to the very idea of a deliberative body. [Though Rule 41 H. R. allows a majority vote to decide this question, it is so inexpedient that the rule has not been taken advantage of lately.]

The Previous Question, and motions to close or limit debate, have the effect of forcing the assembly to take final action upon a question without allowing discussion; in other words, they suspend this fundamental principle of deliberative bodies, namely, that the assembly shall not be forced to final action on a question until every member has had an opportunity of discussing its merits. The very idea of a deliberative assembly is that it is a body to deliberate upon questions, and therefore members must have the right of introducing questions, and of discussing their merits, before expressing their deliberate sense upon them. [Of course a majority can lay the question on the table, and thus stop debate; but in this case the assembly can at any time take it from the table. By this means the majority can instantly get rid of any question until they wish to consider it.]

But there are times when it is expedient to suspend these rights to introduce and debate questions, just the same as it is frequently an advantage to suspend the rules of the assembly, or to change the order of business. If, however, a bare majority could at any time suspend or change these rules and privileges, they would be of but little value. Experience has shown that a two-thirds vote should be required to adopt any motion that has the effect to suspend or change the rules or established order of business, and the rule above is made on this general principle. [The old parliamentary practice did not allow of a suspension of the rules except by unanimous consent.]

As just stated, Congress, by rule, allows a majority to sustain an objection to the consideration of a question, but the rule has very properly gone out of use. So, too, the Previous Question, and motions to close or limit debate, while not used in the Senate, can be adopted by a majority in the House of Representatives.

On account of the immense amount of business to be transacted during each session by the National House of Representatives, and the large number of members each one of whom is entitled to the floor in debate for one hour, it seems an absolute necessity for them to permit a majority to limit or cut off entirely the debate, and thus practically to suspend one of the fundamental rules of deliberative bodies. This is the more necessary in Congress because the party lines are strictly drawn, and the minority could almost stop legislation if they could prevent the debate from being cut off.

In all bodies situated in these respects like Congress, a rule should be adopted allowing a majority to adopt the previous question, and motions to limit or close debate. [See the last note to § 38 in reference to the yeas and nays being ordered by a onefifth vote in Congress, and by even a smaller vote in some other bodies. The two notes in the Introduction, on pp. 15–17, may be read with advantage in connection with this note.]

1. See § 65 and also the Table of Rules, p. 10, for the forms of Stating and putting certain questions.
2. But, after charges are preferred against a member, and the assembly has ordered him to appear for trial, he is theoretically in arrest, and is deprived of all rights of membership until his case is disposed of.
3. Should the Chairman neglect to vote before the ballots are counted, he cannot then vote without the permission of the assembly.
4. Taking a vote by yeas and nays, which has the effect to place on the record how each member votes, is peculiar to this country, and, while it consumes a great deal of time, is rarely useful in ordinary societies. While it can never be used to hinder business, as long as the above rule is observed, it should not be used at all in a mass meeting, or in any other assembly whose members are not responsible to a constituency. By the Constitution, one-fifth of the members present can, in either house of Congress, order a vote to be taken by yeas and nays, and, to avoid some of the resulting inconveniences, Congress has required, for instance, that the previous question shall be seconded by a majority, thus avoiding the yeas and nays until a majority are in favor of ordering the main question. In representative bodies this method of voting is very useful, especially where the proceedings are published, as it enables the people to know how their representatives voted on important measures. If there is no legal or constitutional provision for the yeas and nays being ordered by a minority in a representative body, they should adopt a rule allowing the yeas and nays to be ordered by a one-fifth vote, as in Congress, or even by a much smaller number. In some small bodies a vote on a resolution must be taken by yeas and nays, upon the demand of a single member.
5. The negative vote on considering the question must be two-thirds to dismiss the question for that session.