SECTION FIVE HERE
VOTING

5-1.1 Votes Required for Passage
(a) No bill shall become law unless it shall receive a majority of the votes of all
the members to which each house is entitled, and such vote shall so appear on the
Journal of each house. (Ga. Const., art. III, sec. V, par. V.)
(b) In the event no specific vote is provided in these Rules for the passage of any
Senate amendment, motion or procedural matters and on all other matters not
otherwise provided for in these Rules, the vote for passage or adoption thereof
shall be a majority of those voting, provided the total vote constitutes a quorum.
(c) As to all resolutions not otherwise provided for in these Rules, the vote for
adoption shall be by a majority of the votes of all the members to which the Senate
is entitled.
5-1.2 Quorum
(a) A majority of the members to which the Senate is entitled shall constitute a
quorum to transact business. A smaller number may adjourn from day to day and
compel the presence of its absent members. (Ga. Const., art. III, sec. IV, par. III.)
(b) The power to compel the attendance of Senators, in order to keep or secure a
quorum, shall be vested in the President, and to this end he or she may have the
doors of the Senate closed. When the doors are so closed, no Senator shall be
allowed to retire from the Senate without first obtaining leave from the Senate.
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(c) The Sergeant at Arms of the Senate on order of the President may arrest any
absentees and bring them before the Senate when necessary to secure a quorum.
5-1.3 Voting, General
(a) No Senator shall be permitted to cast his or her vote on any motion, resolution,
amendment, bill, or other question, until the question is put to the Senate by the
President by voice vote, or division of the Senate, or until after the roll call has
begun.
(b) The President’s method of stating the question on any motion for a voice vote
shall be as follows: “All those who favor the motion shall rise, stand and be
counted”; after a count is had by the Secretary of the Senate, he or she shall call
upon the Senators to “Reverse your position,” and the President shall announce the
result.
(c) In either house, when ordered by the presiding officer or at the desire of onefifth
of the members present or a lesser number if so provided by the rules of
either house, a roll-call vote on any question shall be taken and shall be entered on
the Journal. (Ga. Const., art. III, sec. V, par. VI.)
(d) Any Senator or the presiding officer may call for a division on any matter
before the Senate, and the presiding officer may order a roll call or any Senator
may call for the Yeas and Nays; if the call for the Yeas and Nays is sustained by
five (5) of the members voting, the vote shall be taken by the Yeas and Nays and
so entered on the Journal. A motion for the call of the Yeas and Nays shall be
decided without debate.
(e) Whenever on any question the Yeas and Nays shall have been ordered, the
Secretary shall also enter on the Journal the names of those members not voting.5-1.4 Final Passage
(a) On the final passage of all bills and resolutions having the effect of law, the
adoption of all Committee on Conference reports, or any action that would have
the effect of finalizing the Senate’s action on any general bill or resolution or
confirmation, there shall be a recorded vote.
(b) The yeas and nays in the Senate shall be recorded and entered on the Journal
upon the passage or rejection of any bill or resolution appropriating money and
whenever the Constitution requires a vote of two-thirds of either or both houses
for the passage of a bill or resolution. (Ga. Const., art. III, sec. V, par. VI.)
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5-1.5 Electronic Roll Call System
(a) In all instances where the Rules, statutes or Constitution provide for the Yeas
and Nays or a roll call, the electronic roll call system shall be used. The system
shall be set so that it automatically locks and records the vote sixty (60) seconds
after it is activated. When the presiding officer ascertains that the electronic roll
call system is inoperative, he or she shall order the Secretary of the Senate to call
the roll and the voice votes of each Senator recorded.
(b) The official roll call shall be printed by the electronic roll call system, and shall
never in any way be altered or the votes recorded thereon changed.
(c) When the electronic roll call system is used, the voting procedure shall be:
after the main question is put, the presiding officer shall state, “The question is on
(designating the matter to be voted upon), all in favor vote Yea, and all opposed,
Nay; the Secretary will unlock the machine”; after the machine is electronically
locked and records the vote, the presiding officer shall announce the vote and
declare the results.
5-1.6 Debate Prohibited During Voting
During a vote on any question, no debate shall be had.
5-1.7 Verification of Vote; Change of Vote
(a) On the call of the Yeas and Nays by voice vote, the Secretary of the Senate
shall read the names of the Senators after they have been called, and no Senator
shall be permitted to change his or her vote, unless he or she, declares that he or
she voted by mistake of the question. When the electronic roll call system is used,
this Rule shall be inoperative.
(b) When the electronic roll call system is used, no verification of the roll call is
required, but when a roll call vote is taken, it shall be verified unless suspended by
unanimous consent. No Senator shall be permitted to change his or her vote for
any reason.
5-1.8 Voting Prohibitions
(a) No Senator or person shall vote for or attempt to vote for another Senator on
any questions. Violation of this Rule shall be deemed to be disorderly behavior
and subject to punishment as provided by the Constitution and Rules of the Senate.
This Rule cannot be suspended by unanimous consent.
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(b) No pairing of members shall be recognized or allowed as an excuse for not
voting.
(c) In every case where the seat of a Senator is being contested, the sitting Senator
and the contestant shall both retire from the Senate before the vote is taken.
(d) No Senator shall vote upon any question if the Senator or any member of the
Senator’s immediate family has a direct pecuniary interest in the result of such
vote which interest is distinct, unique or peculiar to the Senator or the Senator’s
immediate family. Unanimous consent to be excused under this rule should be
moved verbally.
5-1.9 Explanation of Vote
No member shall be permitted to explain his or her vote during a roll call;
however, on all questions, except such as are not debatable, any Senator shall be
permitted to explain his or her vote by reducing his or her explanation to writing in
no more than two hundred-fifty (250) words. The writing shall not impugn the
motives of any other Senator, and if filed with the Secretary of the Senate before
the confirmation of the Journal on the day next succeeding such vote, shall be
entered on the Journal of that day.
5-1.10 No Quorum Present
(a) Whenever the result of a vote taken shall disclose the fact that no quorum of
the Senate is present, or when the President shall officially state the fact to the
Senate, it shall be in order for any Senator to make a motion for a call of the
Senate. When such motion is made, the President shall state the question as
follows: “Shall the motion for the call of the Senate prevail?” and if five of the
Senators present shall vote in the affirmative, the President shall order the
Secretary of the Senate to call the roll of Senators, and the absentees shall be
noted. The doors shall then be closed, after which the names of the absentees shall
again be called. Those who do not appear, and who are absent without leave, may,
by order of the majority of the Senators present, be sent for and arrested wherever
they may be found by officers to be appointed by the Sergeant at Arms for that
purpose, and their attendance secured, and the Senate shall determine upon what
conditions they shall be discharged.
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(b) When less than a quorum vote on any subject under consideration by the
Senate, the President may order the doors of the Senate be closed and the roll of
Senators called by the Secretary, or recorded on the electronic roll call system. If it
is ascertained that a quorum is present, either by answering to their names or by
their presence in the Senate, the refusal of any Senator present to vote, unless
excused, shall be deemed a contempt of the Senate.