No. 16 - Voting in the Senate
In
the Senate, questions are decided by a majority. The President of the Senate has the same,
deliberative vote as all other senators and, unlike the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, does not exercise a casting vote. Section 23 of the Constitution provides
that, when the votes are equally divided, the question is lost. This provision is designed to preserve the
equality of each senator’s vote.
Determining the vote
—on the voices
Most
votes in the Senate are determined on the
voices. The chair puts the question,
senators vote by calling “Aye” or “No” in turn, and the chair declares the
result based on an assessment of whether the “Ayes” or “Noes” are in the
majority. This assessment is based on a
knowledge of how senators will vote.
—by division
The
chair’s call may be challenged by senators calling for a division. If two or more senators call “divide”, the
chair informs the chamber that a division is required and orders that the bells
be rung. The bells are rung for four
minutes to enable senators to assemble in the chamber. The doors are then locked and the chair
repeats the question, inviting those voting for the motion to sit to the right
of the chair and those voting against the motion to sit to the left. All senators in the chamber must vote except
for the President or the Chairman of Committees or, in practice, any temporary
chair, who may choose not to vote when in the chair. Other senators have the option of abstaining
by not attending the division. The chair
appoints tellers to count the vote,
one for the “ayes” and one for the “noes”.
Tellers are usually party whips.
The vote is recorded by the clerks at the table who cross off senators’
names on a list as they are called by the tellers. One clerk records the “ayes”, the other the
“noes”. When all names have been
recorded, the tellers and clerks cross-check the results which are then
announced by the chair. Lists of senators
voting for and against a motion are reproduced in the Journals of the Senate and in Hansard.
The
procedures for calling, voting in and recording divisions are contained in standing orders 98 to 105. These procedures include the following rules:
-
a
division may be called for only by two or more senators who voted against
the majority as declared by the chair;
-
a lone
senator calling for a division may have his or her vote recorded in the Journals without a division;
-
senators
must vote in a division the same way they voted on the voices;
-
senators
must be present to vote;
-
a senator
who calls for a division must not leave the chamber until the division has
taken place;
-
the call
for a division may be withdrawn by leave (unanimous consent of all senators present) at any time before the tellers
are appointed;
-
senators
must remain seated during a division;
-
if a
point of order is taken during a division, senators may speak to it while
seated.
By
leave, a group of senators voting against a motion may have their votes
recorded, as an alternative to a division.
The rationale for these rules is explained in Chapter 11 of Odgers’ Australian Senate
Practice, 11th edition.
—one minute divisions
If
divisions are held successively, without intervening debate, the bells are rung
for one minute for each successive division, rather than the usual four
minutes. Although the chair, if aware of
the possibility, generally warns senators if a one minute bell is likely, noise
in the chamber often prevents senators from receiving the message. Therefore, if the bells ring soon after a division,
senators who have left the chamber need to be aware that they may have only one
minute to return. Television monitors in
Parliament House display a time signal in the top right hand corner indicating
how much time remains for a senator to reach the chamber. A caption also indicates whether the bells
are ringing for a quorum or a division.
—pairs
The
system of pairing is an unofficial system managed by the party whips to
preserve the voting strengths of the parties in the Senate and prevent results
by misadventure. A senator who is expected
to vote on one side but who is absent is “paired” with a senator who is
expected to vote on the other side and who is also absent, or who refrains from
voting for the purpose. Pairing
arrangements also apply to Senate vacancies.
Because they are unofficial, pairing arrangements are not recorded in
the Journals, but they are included
in Hansard.
—errors, confusion or misadventure in divisions
If
counting or recording errors or confusion occur which cannot be corrected (for
example, by the tellers certifying that a pairing error occurred), another
division is held. In practice, divisions
may also be held again by leave if misadventure prevents a senator reaching the
chamber and the result does not reflect the voting strengths of the parties and
independents. Misadventure may include
mechanical or electronic failures leading to malfunctioning bells or
lifts. The Senate invariably grants
leave to ensure that questions are not determined by accidents of this sort.
Questions determined by special majorities
Two
types of decision require an absolute majority under the standing orders of the
Senate. These are:
In
practice, such votes are rare because the need to rescind orders rarely arises
and the use of contingent notices for the suspension of standing orders
obviates the need for an absolute majority in most cases (see Brief Guide No. 5—Suspension of Standing Orders).
Section 128 of the Constitution also
requires that a bill to alter the Constitution be passed by an absolute
majority of each House. Standing orders
provide that senators will be notified before the Senate votes on the third
reading of a bill to alter the Constitution, and a roll call is held to
determine whether all senators are present.
Modern practice is to dispense with some or all of the standing orders
relating to the roll call (see standing orders 106 to 110). However, the bells are always rung and names
of senators voting on the third reading of a constitutional alteration bill are
recorded in the Journals, even if no
division is called, to ensure that the constitutional requirements are
met. If the bill goes to a referendum,
official “Yes” and “No” cases may be authorised by the members of parliament
voting for and against the bill, respectively, and distributed to electors by
the Australian Electoral Commission.
Secret ballots
Most
questions in the Senate are determined in public, as befits a representative
democratic body. However, the standing
orders provide for secret ballots to elect the President, Deputy President and
members of committees where the number of candidates exceeds the number of
positions available. See Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice, 11th
edition, page 224 for further details.
The effect of equally divided votes
The
constitutional rules about Senate voting have a profound impact on the
procedures of the Senate. In particular,
they affect the legislative process and the form of the question put by the
chair at the various stages of consideration of a bill.
The
aim of legislative deliberation is to determine whether a bill, its several
component parts and any textual amendments have the support of a majority of
the Senate. Thus the questions for each
major stage of consideration take the following form:
That this bill be now
read a first/second/third time.
If
the votes are equally divided, the question is lost and, lacking majority
support, the bill proceeds no further.
During
committee of the whole, detailed consideration of the bill takes place and
amendments may be proposed. Amendments
take one of two forms:
-
proposals
to omit clauses; or
-
proposals
to make textual changes by omitting words, inserting or adding words, or
omitting and substituting words.
Where
a clause is proposed to be omitted, the question takes the form:
That the clause stand as printed.
This
question is designed to test whether a majority of the committee is in favour
of the clause remaining in the bill. An
equally divided vote indicates the absence of a majority in support of the
clause; the question is therefore lost and the clause is removed from the
bill. Putting the question in an
apparently more straightforward way:
That the clause be omitted
would
produce a flawed result on an equally divided vote. On such an outcome, the question would be lost and a clause which did not enjoy majority
support would remain in the
bill. Therefore, this form of the
question is not used except where the Senate is requesting the House of Representatives to make an amendment which
the Constitution precludes the Senate from making itself (see Brief Guide No. 9—Consideration of Legislation). Such requests
must be supported by a majority.
The
same principles apply to the consideration of messages from the House of
Representatives disagreeing to amendments made by the Senate. See Brief Guide No. 15—Communications between the Houses,
for more detail.
Need assistance?
For
assistance with any of the matters covered by this guide, government senators
or their staff should contact the Clerk Assistant (Table), on extension 3020;
and non-government senators or their staff should contact the Clerk Assistant
(Procedure), on extension 3380.
February
2005
This publication is available electronically at http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/pubs/guides/index.htm
|
