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January 1

Parliamentary procedure

What exactly is the difference between "majority of those present" and "majority of those present and voting"? 2601:646:8080:FC40:7042:7EFC:5F93:408A (talk) 03:41, 1 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You haven't told us which parliament, but where I live, Australia, such a situation would be explained by members abstaining from voting. HiLo48 (talk) 03:58, 1 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In some cases, there may be members present who do not vote. Members might wish to be present in order to constitute a quorum without voting.

There are also variations in how abstentions are handled. In some public parliamentary bodies (such as the European Parliament, see Rule 180.3), abstentions can be formally registered in the same was a Yes or No vote. However, this is not universal. In the Parliament of the United Kingdom, only Aye (Yes) or No votes can be recorded. Therefore, members sometimes cast both votes to make clear that they are intentionally abstaining, avoiding accusations that they are neglecting their duties. Matt's talk 15:58, 1 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

So what about the US Congress? 2601:646:8080:FC40:7042:7EFC:5F93:408A (talk) 02:51, 2 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Standard parliamentary procedure: if you are present and vote vs present and anything else (formal abstention, or just ignoring the vote). DOR (ex-HK) (talk) 23:46, 2 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! So in "majority of those present", the denominator is the total of those present regardless of how or whether they voted, whereas in "majority of those present and voting", the denominator is the total number of yes+no votes, and does not include "present" votes or any other kind of formal abstention votes -- is that correct? 2601:646:8080:FC40:2480:B8DC:C513:1FD0 (talk) 02:52, 3 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

See Voting methods in deliberative assemblies § United States. --Lambiam 00:12, 3 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]