Voting in the House typically takes place on a binary “yes/no” basis: the Chair puts a question and invites Members to call “aye” and “no” accordingly. If the Chair cannot determine which side is in the majority a division will be called. At certain times, and on certain types of question, a division may be deferred, with paper ballots being used for voting.
Further information on how the House votes is contained in the MPs’ Guide to Procedure, available on the UK Parliament website at https://beta.parliament.uk/collections/veO9Pw1o
The House’s current procedures have on occasion been open to criticism, because of the time taken in divisions and, on occasion, the conditions in which divisions have taken place. The Committee has decided to examine whether existing procedures are working as well as they should.
The Committee has also decided to examine alternatives to the present binary choice model of voting. On two occasions in March 2019 the House adopted a decision-making procedure intended to demonstrate the relative support across the House for several propositions relating to the UK’s exit from the European Union (the so-called “indicative vote” procedure). The Committee intends to review the operation of this procedure and to examine whether the House ought to adopt a set procedure for determining the relative popularity among Members of a number of options.
Proxy voting for parental absence
Concurrently with this inquiry, the Committee will be reviewing the present arrangements for proxy voting for parental absence: the Committee will issue a separate call for evidence on the operation of the system introduced by the House earlier this year, and will report to the House in time for a decision to be taken on the continuation of the present system in January 2020.
Relevant evidence submitted to this inquiry will be taken into account in the proxy voting review.