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Voting
How to Vote?
When the decision of the House is required, the question is
put to the House for the approval or the disapproval of the
Members. Each member's decision is taken by a vote. Voting can
only be done while the House is in session. Every Member is
entitled to a vote and they should exercise it personally. When
voting, a Member must occupy his allotted seat. Every Member
has a right to vote but any Member may refrain from voting if
he so desires. Voting in Parliament could be taken in three
different ways. They are:
| a. |
Vote by Voice
The most common form of vote is voice vote. According
to the Standing Order 42, when the Speaker puts the question
to the House those in favor of a resolution say "Aye"
and those against say "No". If the Speaker feels that
the opinion of the House is sufficiently and clearly expressed
he could announce it to the House. If a Member is not
satisfied with the decision of the Speaker, he may ask
for a division. |
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| b. |
Vote by Name
When a request for a division by name is so made, the
Speaker takes steps as specified in the Standing Order
42. At this stage, the division bells should be rung for
two minutes and the division should be taken by name.
The vote is taken by the Secretary-General asking each
member separately how he desires to vote and recording
the votes accordingly. The Secretary-General first asks
the Prime Minister and then the Ministers of the Cabinet,
other Ministers and the Deputy Ministers in the respective
alphabetical order of their names and then the other members
in the alphabetical order of their names. A member may
state that he declines to vote and in such case the Secretary-General
should record his name as having declined to vote. After
counting the votes the Secretary-General should present
the results to the Speaker and the Speaker should declare
the result of the division. If votes are equal, the Speaker
can cast his vote and declare the result. |
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| c. |
Vote by Rising
If the Speaker so decides he can take the vote as described
in the Standing Order 43. It says that the Speaker can
call upon the Members to rise in their places. The Secretary-General
Should count and report the result to the Speaker and
the Speaker should announce the result to the House. If
a member states that he voted in error or that his vote
has been counted wrongly, he may claim to have his vote
altered. But this should be done before the Speaker declares
the result of the division. |
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