[Deschler-Brown Precedents, Volume 14,  Chapter 30]
[Chapter 30. Voting]
[C. Yeas and Nays and Other Votes of Record]
[Â§ 40. Effecting Vote Changes and Corrections]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[Page 11719-11723]
 
                               CHAPTER 30
 
                                 Voting
 
               C. YEAS AND NAYS AND OTHER VOTES OF RECORD
 
Sec. 40. Instances Where Vote Changes and Corrections Have Been Made

Incorrectly Cast Votes

Sec. 40.1 A Member may change his vote on a recorded teller vote by 
    stating his correction prior to the announcement of the result by 
    the Chair, and unanimous consent is not required.

    On July 27, 1971,(10) a recorded teller vote having been 
taken on an amendment to a bill (H.R. 10061) making appropriations for 
the Department of Labor and the Department of Health, Education, and 
Welfare, Mr. Phillip M. Landrum, of Georgia, rose to ask the Chair 
(11) the following question:
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10. 117 Cong. Rec. 27373, 27374, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
11. Chet Holifield (Calif.).
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        Mr. Chairman, I voted the green card in error thinking I was 
    voting in the negative. I intended to vote in the negative. Is it 
    permissible for me to change my vote?

    The Chair responded that the gentleman would be allowed to correct 
his vote, and following a parliamentary inquiry thereafter, the 
Chairman announced that the amendment had been rejected.

Sec. 40.2 Unable to effect a correction because of untimeliness, a 
    Member announced that he had miscast his vote on a recorded teller 
    vote taken the preceding day.

    On June 18, 1971,(12) after a roll call vote on a 
resolution (H. Res. 434) authorizing investigative authority to the 
Committee on Education and Labor, Mr. James W. Symington, of Missouri, 
made the following statement:
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12. 117 Cong. Rec. 20723, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mr. Speaker, I wish to state for the Record that on recorded 
    teller vote 143 yesterday I voted ``aye'' but had intended to vote 
    ``no.''

Sec. 40.3 On a recorded vote, not conducted electronically, vote 
    corrections are sometimes permitted after the Chair has announced 
    the result.

    While a Member may, by unanimous consent, correct his vote on

[[Page 11720]]

a recorded teller vote immediately after the Chair has announced the 
result, the Chair will not entertain such requests after further 
business has been transacted--unless the correction requested pertains 
to an error which could not have been made by the Member. Unanimous 
consent has been granted, for example, to correct the permanent Record 
to reflect a Member's vote which the temporary edition had recorded as 
not being cast.(13) Such requests would not be allowed, 
however, with regard to votes cast by electronic device in light of the 
assumption that the mechanism does not err and based upon the Member's 
ability and responsibility to verify his vote when cast.(14)
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13. See Sec. 40.4, infra.
14. See Sec. 32.2, supra.
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    On Mar. 18, 1971,(15) tellers with clerks having been 
ordered on an amendment to a joint resolution (H.J. Res. 468) making 
further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 1971, the vote 
was taken; and the Chair announced that the amendment was agreed to.
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15. 117 Cong. Rec. 7023, 7024, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
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    Immediately thereafter, the following requests were made:

        Mr. [Frank] Annunzio [of Illinois]: Mr. Chairman, I voted 
    ``aye'' by mistake in all the confusion. I want to be recorded as 
    voting ``no'' and ask unanimous consent that my vote be corrected 
    accordingly.
        The Chairman: (16) Without objection, the correction 
    will be made. . . .
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16. Charles M. Price (Ill.).
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        Mr. [Wright] Patman [of Texas]: Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous 
    consent to be recorded as voting for the amendment instead of 
    against it. I voted against it, and I ask unanimous consent to 
    correct my vote.
        The Chairman: Without objection, the correction will be made. . 
    . .

    No objections having been voiced to either of the Members' 
requests, the corrections were made.

Incorrectly Recorded Votes

Sec. 40.4 Four days after a Member was erroneously recorded as not 
    voting on a nonelectronic recorded vote, unanimous consent was 
    granted to permit the permanent Record and Journal to be corrected 
    accordingly.

    On June 28, 1971,(17) Mrs. Charlotte T. Reid, of 
Illinois, made the following statement:
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17. Cong. Rec. (daily ed.), 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
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        Mrs. Reid of Illinois: Mr. Speaker, on page H5871 of the 
    Congressional Record of June 24, 1971, I am listed as not voting on 
    recorded teller vote No. 163 when, in fact, I was present and

[[Page 11721]]

    voted ``no.'' I ask unanimous consent that the permanent Record and 
    Journal be corrected accordingly.
        The Speaker: (18) Is there objection to the request 
    of the gentlewoman from Illinois?
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18. Carl Albert (Okla.).
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        There was no objection.

    The final tally of recorded teller vote No. 163 was subsequently 
corrected in the permanent edition of the Record (19) and 
the Journal (20) to reflect the requested change.
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19. 117 Cong. Rec. 21891, 92d Cong. 1st Sess., June 24, 1971.
20. H. Jour. 783 (1971).
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Sec. 40.5 Where the possibility of confusion existed in the reporting 
    by tellers of the result of a recorded teller vote, the Chair 
    indicated: (1) that the Chair could only announce the vote as 
    reported to him by the clerks and that discrepancies between that 
    announcement and the official tally would appear in the Record; and 
    (2) there is no available procedure for a recapitulation of a vote 
    taken by clerks.

    On Mar. 29, 1971,(1) a recorded teller vote having been 
ordered on an amendment to a joint resolution (S.J. Res. 55) to provide 
a temporary extension of a law relating to interest rates and cost-of-
living stabilization, the Committee of the Whole divided; and the 
tellers reported that there were--ayes 143, noes 183, not voting 106. 
Accordingly, the Chairman (2) announced that the amendment 
has been rejected.
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 1. 117 Cong. Rec. 8265, 8266, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
 2. George W. Andrews (Ala.).
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    In the course of the voting procedure, the Member-tellers were 
apparently changed, and, there being some concern as to possible 
confusion which may have resulted, the following discussion ensued:

        Mr. [Edward J.] Derwinski [of Illinois]: Mr. Chairman, I rise 
    to direct a parliamentary inquiry.
        The Chairman: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Derwinski: Mr. Chairman, in the procedure that we just 
    followed there is a possibility that a number of Members voting in 
    the negative were not in effect counted since the tellers were 
    switched at the onset of the vote. My question is not directed at 
    this vote, but against any future complications of that type.
        What is the official vote? Is it the vote announced by the 
    tellers, or will it be the vote from the box and when the ballots 
    are, in fact, counted, and the record of the voting is indicated?
        The Chairman: The Chair can only report the vote as reported by 
    the tellers.
        Mr. Derwinski: If the Record the following day would indicate a 
    contrary

[[Page 11722]]

    vote, what recourse, if any, would we have?
        The Chairman: The recorded teller vote will appear in the 
    Record. However, the Chair can only announce the vote as reported 
    by the tellers.
        Mr. Derwinski: Another parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chairman.
        The Chairman: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Derwinski: Mr. Chairman, to protect both parties at any 
    time or any majority or minority Member at any time, it is obvious 
    that there must be enough precautions taken to avoid what just 
    occurred where tellers were, in fact, switched, and the vote was 
    not properly presented to the tellers.
        The Chairman: The Chair will say that the tellers took their 
    places at the proper boxes as designated by the Chair. The Chairman 
    would caution all Members to be very careful about how they proceed 
    through the lines. Do not be too hasty, and certainly be on time.
        Mr. Gerald R. Ford [of Michigan]: Mr. Chairman, a further 
    parliamentary inquiry.
        The Chairman: The gentleman will state it.
        Mr. Gerald R. Ford: Mr. Chairman, we have a procedure for a 
    recapitulation in a rollcall vote in the House of Representatives. 
    Is there any comparable parliamentary procedure in this new device 
    we are using for teller votes with clerks?
        The Chairman: Not for a recapitulation of a recorded teller 
    vote. According to the vote announced by the Chair, as reported by 
    the tellers, the yeas were 143, and the noes were 183, and the 
    amendment was not agreed to.

Properly Cast, Recorded Votes

Sec. 40.6 Members who wish to change their votes on a recorded vote 
    conducted by clerks may announce their vote change in the well 
    prior to the announcement of the result.

    On July 11, 1973,(3) a recorded vote having been ordered 
on an amendment to a bill (H.R. 8860) to amend and extend the 
Agricultural Act of 1970, the vote was taken by clerks as the 
electronic system was temporarily inoperative. Following the clerk's 
tally, Mr. Carlos J. Moorhead, of California, and Mr. C. W. Young, of 
Florida, stood in the well and announced that they desired to change 
their votes from ``no'' to ``aye'' and filled out new ballot cards. The 
result of the vote not yet having been announced by the 
Chair,(4) the gentlemen's requests were honored, and their 
votes duly recorded.
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 3. 119 Cong. Rec. 23161, 23162, 93d Cong. 1st Sess.
 4. William H. Natcher (Ky.).
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Sec. 40.7 Following the announcement of the result of a recorded vote 
    taken by tellers, a Member may change his vote only by unanimous 
    consent and only if no further business has been transacted.

    On Nov. 9, 1971,(5) a recorded teller vote having been 
ordered on

[[Page 11723]]

an amendment to a substitute amendment to a bill (H.R. 10729) to amend 
the Federal Insecti- cide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the 
Committee divided; the tellers tallied the vote, and the Chairman 
(6) announced that the amendment to the substitute amendment 
was rejected.
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 5. 117 Cong. Rec. 40062, 40063, 92d Cong. 1st Sess.
 6. William L. Hungate (Mo.).
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    Immediately thereafter, Mr. Robert N. C. Nix, of Pennsylvania, 
requested that he be permitted to change his vote from ``no'' to 
``aye.'' The Chairman stated that it would be ordered if there were no 
objections. There being no objection, Mr. Nix' vote was recorded as 
requested.
    A similar result was obtained on the very next recorded teller vote 
when Mr. John L. McMillan, of South Carolina, sought unanimous consent 
to change his vote from ``yea'' to ``nay,'' following the Chair's 
announcement that the particular amendment had been rejected. Again, 
the Chair inquired as to whether any Member objected, and none being 
heard, the change was recorded.