Should 'No Vote's be counted as 'No' votes?

[JBeukema]

Let us take the senate (100 persons).

Simple majority to pass. (51%)

It everyone votes, it takes 51 votes to pass something.

Let's say 10 reps don't vote. So long as 51 votes are still demanded, they are being counted as 'No' votes by default.

Sine they refuse to go on record on vote, shouldn't it be 51% of votes (in this scenario, 51% of 90 = 46)?

 

[txlonghorn]

i vote no

 

[Flopper]

Let us take the senate (100 persons).

Simple majority to pass. (51%)

It everyone votes, it takes 51 votes to pass something.

Let's say 10 reps don't vote. So long as 51 votes are still demanded, they are being counted as 'No' votes by default.

Sine they refuse to go on record on vote, shouldn't it be 51% of votes (in this scenario, 51% of 90 = 46)?

If a senator knows that their vote is not needed to pass the legislation, then he or she may not attend the session and vote. A rule such as you propose would only insure that more senators vote. It would not change the outcome. I don't know if this would accomplish anything or not except to force senators to go on record.

 

[syrenn]

Its their fucking job to vote! What were they voted into office for if not to represent their constituents, to collect a pay check for a non-vote?

How about this. If they don't vote their are atomically out of office and forfeit all benefits of the office as well.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

What? Do you have any idea what might happen if they actually did this? What if they suddenly decided to do a vote in the middle of the night, with only 40 people there to vote. That would mean that 21 senators could pass a law simply because they are more than half of the people there at the time, despite the fact that if everyone was there 79 would actually vote against it.

 

[Eccgmike]

Are you reffering to the new union rules for the airline industry, or reconciliation in the Senate??