Many questions must be decided in each House of Parliament every sitting day. This is done by taking votes.
The first step is to do a “vote on the voices.” All those in favour are asked to call out “aye” (yes) and all those against are asked to call out “no”. The Speaker, President, or Chairman of the Committee listens to the voices and decides who wins.
A lot of the time this gives us the answer to a question, but sometimes the result can be challenged. Sometimes Members also want to have the way people voted written down. A formal vote is called a “division”. If someone wants a division, they called out “divide.”
The Presiding Officer directs the Clerk to ring the bells, and bells start sounding throughout the building. Each House has a different sounding bell so that Members know which House is having a vote. Members have a time limit to get into their chamber to vote. If they do not make it in time, they do not vote.
“Ayes” go to the right of the Presiding Officer’s chair, and “noes” go to the left. The Presiding Officer will pick people to count the result (“tellers”) and they work with the Clerks to count everyone up and tick names off a list. The lists are given to the Presiding Officer who announces the result. If there is a tie, the Speaker or President gets to break the tie.
How do the Members know which way to vote? Their parties usually tell them if everyone has to vote the same way and follow a policy, or if they can vote on their “conscience” – the party lets them vote the way that they consider is best.
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