Voice Vote and division

Subject: Polity

Context:

Rajya Sabha passes two farm bills by voice vote amid opposition protests

Concept:

• Both the concepts of a voice vote as well as a division have been borrowed from the Parliament of the United Kingdom and were already in use in legislatures in British India.
• A voice vote involves the speaker putting a question to the house and then asking the house to put forward its opinion in the forms of ayes (yes) or noes. Based on a rough measure of which side was louder, the speaker decides if the motion was passed or fell through.
• The obvious advantage of a voice vote is that it is quick. The apparent disadvantage is that it is inaccurate, given that the speakers decides what the opinion of the house is based on which side is louder. A literal shouting match is not the ideal way to conduct any serious business other than in cases where voting is so one sided, it is basically a formality.
• Due to this, parliamentary procedure requires that if a voice vote is challenged by any member, the speaker must ask for a division.
• This once involved the physical separation of legislators and then a counting of heads – a procedure still followed in the UK. But nowadays in India, this is achieved by getting MPs and MLAs to vote electronically.
• The advantage of a division, of course, is that it tells the public exactly what the vote count is. Moreover, it lets constituents know how their MP or MLA voted.