[Deschler-Brown Precedents, Volume 14,  Chapter 30]
[Chapter 30. Voting]
[C. Yeas and Nays and Other Votes of Record]
[Â§ 35. Time to Respond on a Vote]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 11697-11702]
 
                               CHAPTER 30
 
                                 Voting
 
               C. YEAS AND NAYS AND OTHER VOTES OF RECORD
 
Sec. 35. Time To Respond on a Vote

    When the electronic device is utilized to record a vote, Members 
are allowed a minimum of 15 minutes to respond; unless the Chair has 
utilized his authority to cluster and reduce votes to five minutes 
under clause 5(b) of Rule I. It is within the discretion of the Chair, 
following the expiration of the minimum time, how much longer to leave 
the voting stations open.(13)
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13. Voting times have been extended by the Chair for a variety of 
        reasons, for instance, where Members are at a meeting at the 
        White House or engaged in some ceremony that has delayed their 
        attendance. In one instance, a recorded vote was left open for 
        over an hour while the leadership on both sides of the aisle 
        were determining the next item to be on the legislative agenda. 
        See Roll Call Number 412, 140 Cong. Rec. p. ____, 103d Cong. 2d 
        Sess., Aug. 19, 1994, which remained pending for a total of 73 
        minutes.
            In the 104th Congress, the ``cus-tomary time'' for 
        permitting Members to respond was announced to be ``as soon as 
        possible'' after the 15 minutes permitted by the rule. 
        Seventeen became accepted as an appropriate maximum time and 
        has since been generally accepted as the norm. The Chair often 
        announces that ``this will be a 17-minute vote'' when the bells 
        are rung. See 141 Cong. Rec. p. ____, 104th Cong. 1st Sess., 
        Feb. 10, 1995.                          -------------------
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Fifteen-minute Minimum

Sec. 35.1 The Chair indicated that under the then-existing rules, 
    Members were entitled to a minimum of 12 [now 15]

[[Page 11698]]

    minutes to vote on a recorded vote; at the conclusion of that time 
    the Chair ascertains whether Members are in the Chamber who desire 
    to vote before announcing the result.

    On Sept. 16, 1971,(14) a recorded teller vote having 
been ordered on an amendment to a bill (H.R. 1746) concerning equal 
employment opportunity, clerks took their positions and Members 
deposited tally cards in the appropriate boxes; and, at the conclusion 
of the vote, the Chairman (15) stated:
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14. 117 Cong. Rec. 32111, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
15. Brock Adams (Wash.).
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        Twelve minutes (16) have expired. Are there any 
    Members in the Chamber who have not voted and wish to vote?
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16. Effective Jan. 3, 1973, the minimum time limit became 15 minutes; 
        see Rule I clause 5, House Rules and Manual Sec. 630 (1995).
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    Immediately thereafter, Mr. James G. Fulton, of Pennsylvania, 
engaged in a brief discussion with the Chair as to the fundamental 
nature of the time limit, as follows:

        Mr. Fulton of Pennsylvania: Mr. Chairman, a parliamentary 
    inquiry.
        The Chairman: The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
    inquiry.
        Mr. Fulton of Pennsylvania: Mr. Chairman, does not the rule 
    explicitly state that the 12 [now 15] minutes is the minimum? So, 
    there is no 12-minute expiration. Any Member may vote so long as he 
    is in the Chamber before the final report is made; is that not 
    correct?
        The Chairman: The Chair has so ruled.
        Is there any Member in the Chamber who has not voted but who 
    wishes to vote?
        Mr. Fulton of Pennsylvania: Mr. Chairman, a further 
    parliamentary inquiry.
        The Chairman: The gentleman will state his parliamentary 
    inquiry.
        Mr. Fulton of Pennsylvania: It is definite, then, that there is 
    no maximum time limitation on a record teller vote?
        The Chairman: Not until the vote is so announced.

    Parliamentarian's Note: A recorded teller vote by nonelectronic 
means having been ordered, the proper procedure for recording or 
changing votes after the completion of the count, is as follows:
    (1) LMembers who voted may change their votes by depositing 
corrected tally cards prior to the Chair's announcement of the result 
without unanimous consent.
    (2) LMembers indicating a desire to vote who are in the Chamber and 
have not been recorded may vote prior to the Chair's announcement of 
the result, and unanimous consent is not required.

[[Page 11699]]

    (3) LMembers who voted but were incorrectly recorded may change 
their votes after the Chair's announcement of the result by unanimous 
consent (and only by unanimous consent) providing no further business 
has intervened. (The Chair will not entertain a unanimous-consent 
request to change a vote taken by electronic device.
    (4) LMembers who have not voted prior to the Chair's announcement 
of the result may only be recorded as ``present'' thereafter (before 
further business intervenes), and may not vote ``aye'' or ``no'' even 
by unanimous consent.(17)
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17. For more detail, see Sec. 40, infra.
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Effect of Announcement of the Result

Sec. 35.2 Pursuant to the rules, Members have a minimum of 15 minutes 
    from the time of the ordering of a recorded vote to be in the 
    Chamber, and Members who are in the Chamber at the expiration of 
    that time will be permitted to vote prior to the announcement of 
    the result by the Chair.

    On Oct. 13, 1972,(18) the House adopted a resolution (H. 
Res. 1123) (19) as amended, which mandated certain 
prospective changes in House rules for the purpose of introducing an 
electronic voting system. Among those provisions affected were Rules I, 
VIII, XV, and XXIII. Pursuant to the resolution's final form upon 
adoption, the changes were to take effect ``immediately before noon on 
Jan. 3, 1973.'' (20)
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18. 118 Cong. Rec. 36012, 92d Cong. 2d Sess.
19. Significant excerpts from H. Res. 1123 may be found at Sec. 31.1, 
        supra.
20. Thus such changes technically became part of the rules of the 92d 
        Congress, without actually being operable during that Congress, 
        and could be incorporated by reference as rules of the 93d 
        Congress merely by adopting 92d Congress rules.
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    Whereas Rule I clause 5 previously limited Members to 12 minutes 
(1) within which to be counted after the naming of tellers 
with clerks,(2) House Resolu

[[Page 11700]]

tion 1123 extended this period to ``not less than fifteen minutes to be 
counted from the ordering of the recorded vote or the ordering of 
clerks to tell the vote.'' Moreover, in accordance with the traditional 
interpretation of the words, ``to be counted,'' Members in the Chamber 
upon the expiration of the minimum time limit are permitted to vote 
prior to the Chair's announcement of the result--as the following 
exchange (3) indicates:
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 1. Rule I clause 5, House Rules and Manual Sec. 630 (1971).
 2. The phrase, ``tellers with clerks,'' as a parliamentary term of art 
        has been supplanted by the use of the words, ``recorded vote.'' 
        While a recorded vote may certainly be taken, if necessary, by 
        nonelectronic means, the change in the wording tends to 
        underscore the newly streamlined one-step procedure of Rule I 
        clause 5, as amended by H. Res. 1123. For additional details as 
        to this change, see Sec. 31.1 and Sec. 17, supra.
 3. 118 Cong. Rec. 36006, 92d Cong. 2d Sess.
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        MR. [Hale] Boggs [of Louisiana]: . . . I would just like to ask 
    the gentleman [Mr. Wayne L. Hays, of Ohio] this question: On the 
    time clock over here, does the board automatically go off when the 
    time limit has expired?

        Mr. Hays: No, it does not. It does not go off until it is 
    locked out up at the Speaker's desk.
        Mr. Boggs: So that means we now have 1 or, rather, 1\1/2\ 
    minutes to vote. May I ask, when it becomes zero, then how long is 
    it open there at the desk?
        Mr. Hays: When it comes to zero, the Speaker will bang down his 
    gavel and will say, ``All time has expired,'' or ``Are there any 
    Members in the Chamber who desire to vote?'' It is just like we do 
    it now on a teller vote. If there are any who desire to vote, he 
    will give them a minute or two more to do so, and then he will lock 
    the machine out, and that is the end of it.(4)
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 4. It should be noted that the ``locking out'' of the system--the 
        termination of the electronic vote--does not actually preclude 
        a Member from casting or changing a vote prior to the Chair's 
        announcement of the result. While the electronic system itself 
        will no longer record a vote after the system is closed down, 
        Members may still change or cast their votes by entering the 
        well and depositing with the Clerk a card intended for such 
        use. Thus, the critical cutoff point remains the Chair's 
        announcement of the result.
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Sec. 35.3 It is the responsibility of the Chair at the expiration of 12 
    [now 15] minutes to ascertain whether Members are in the Chamber 
    who desire to vote on a recorded vote before announcing the result; 
    but Members may not be recorded thereafter even by unanimous 
    consent.

    On Sept. 30, 1971,(5) the House resolved itself into the 
Committee of the Whole for the further consideration of a bill (H.R. 
10351) to provide for the continuation of programs authorized under the 
Economic Opportunities Act of 1964, and for other purposes. In the 
course of the bill's consideration, Mr. Carl D. Perkins, of Kentucky, 
offered an amendment to an amendment previously offered by Mr. John 
Brademas, of Indiana.
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 5. 117 Cong. Rec. 34270, 34284, 34290, 34291, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
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    Following debate, the Chair (6) put the question, and, 
tellers with

[[Page 11701]]

clerks having been ordered, there were--ayes 226, noes 158, not voting 
48. The Chairman then announced that the amendment to the amendment was 
agreed to. Immediately thereafter, the following exchange took place:
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 6. John J. Rooney (N.Y.).
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        Mr. [Delbert L.] Latta [of Ohio]: Mr. Chairman, I was in the 
    Chamber before the Chair announced the vote. Is it too late to cast 
    my vote?
        The Chairman: It is now too late since the vote has been 
    announced.
        Mr. Latta: Well, Mr. Chairman, had I been here I would have 
    voted ``no.''
        Mrs. [Margaret M.] Heckler of Massachusetts: Mr. Chairman, I 
    wish to state that had I been present I would have voted ``aye.''

    Mr. Latta and Mrs. Heckler were officially recorded as ``not 
voting.''

Sec. 35.4 It is too late for a Member to cast a recorded vote after the 
    Chair has announced the result of the vote.

    On May 12, 1971,(7) a recorded teller vote (with Member 
tellers) having been taken on an amendment to a bill (H.R. 8190) 
providing for supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1971, the Chairman (8) himself having voted by 
sending a signed tally card to the appropriate tellers, then announced 
that the amendment was agreed to by a vote of 201-195. Immediately 
thereafter, the following exchange transpired:
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 7. 117 Cong. Rec. 14584, 14585, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
 8. Wayne N. Aspinall (Colo.).
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        Mr. [William J.] Green of Pennsylvania: Mr. Chairman, I vote 
    ``no.''
        The Chairman: The Chair will state to the gentleman from 
    Pennsylvania that his vote comes too late. The Chair has announced 
    the vote by tellers with clerks.
        Mr. Green of Pennsylvania: Mr. Chairman, I was here before, and 
    I had my hand up before the Chair announced the vote. I was trying 
    to be recognized.
        The Chairman: The Chair will state to the gentleman from 
    Pennsylvania that the gentleman cannot be recorded as voting 
    ``no.''

Sec. 35.5 It is too late for a Member to vote on a recorded vote after 
    the Chair has announced the result, although that Member states 
    that he was in the Chamber prior to the announcement.

    On Sept. 30, 1971,(9) during consideration of a bill 
(H.R. 10351) to provide for a continuation of programs authorized under 
the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 in the Committee of the Whole, a 
recorded teller vote was ordered on an amendment, the vote was

[[Page 11702]]

taken and the Chair announced the result.
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 9. 117 Cong. Rec. 34291, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
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    Immediately thereafter, the following exchange transpired:

        Mr. [Delbert L.] Latta [of Ohio]: Mr. Chairman, I was in the 
    Chamber before the Chair announced the vote. Is it too late to cast 
    my vote?
        The Chairman: (10) It is now too late since the vote 
    has been announced.
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10. John J. Rooney (N.Y.).
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