Congress Classroom · student handout

Reading a roll call

Name Period

From 2013 to 2024, about one bill in 32 had a recorded vote on its record, and 64% of the bills that became law never had one. When Congress does vote by name, it publishes how every legislator voted.

Words this lesson uses

Yea and nay. The words the record uses for yes and no on a recorded vote.

Present. An answer that is neither yea nor nay. It counts as taking part without taking a side.

Not voting. How the record lists a legislator who did not answer. It never says why.

Two-thirds vote. Two of every three legislators voting, rather than a simple majority. Needed under suspension of the rules, and to pass a measure over a veto.

Suspension of the rules. The House's fast road: 40 minutes of debate, no changes from the floor, and two-thirds of those voting needed to pass.

Chamber. The House of Representatives or the Senate. A measure has to get through both.

Three ways to decide

Voice vote. The presiding officer asks those in favor to say "aye", then those against to say "no", and announces which side sounded larger. Nobody's vote is written down.
Unanimous consent. The presiding officer asks whether anyone objects. If nobody does, the question is agreed to. In the Senate this is how most bills pass.
Recorded vote, or roll call. Every legislator's yea or nay is written down and published. The Constitution guarantees it: if one-fifth of those present ask for "the yeas and nays", the vote is taken by name (Article I, Section 5).

Three real roll calls

1. H.R. 1734, TRANQ Research Act. House Roll Call 212, May 11, 2023.
Question: "On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended". Type: 2/3 yea-and-nay.

	Yea	Not voting
Republican	219	3
Democratic	206	7
Total	425	10

Became law. Open the official page.

2. H.R. 4364, Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2024. House Roll Call 563, Nov 1, 2023.
Question: "On Passage". Type: yea-and-nay.

The bill that pays for Congress's own offices and staff.

	Yea	Nay	Not voting
Republican	210	0	11
Democratic	4	197	11
Total	214	197	22

Passed the House. It did not become law as its own bill. Open the official page.

3. H.R. 3935, FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. Senate Roll Call Vote 162, May 9, 2024.
Question: "On Passage of the Bill (H.R. 3935, As Amended)". Type: 3/5 required.

Yeas 88, Nays 4, Not voting 8. The Senate's page lists every Senator by name, with party and state, in alphabetical order: the order the clerk calls them. Became law. Open the official page.

Your legislator's vote

Open vote 1 or vote 2 on the Clerk's page and find your Representative. The page lists every Representative with party and state; your browser's Find (Ctrl+F, or Cmd+F on a Mac) will take you to your state. (Classes with saved groups: use the Representative in your school's Three.)
Write one sentence reporting the vote, in this form:
On [date], on the question [question], [Representative / Senator] [name] voted [yea / nay / present / did not vote]. The question [passed / failed], [yeas] to [nays].
Now open vote 3 and find both of your Senators. Write the same sentence for each.
If your Representative or a Senator was not serving in 2023 and 2024, they are not on these pages. Use the newest roll call on clerk.house.gov (House) or senate.gov (Senate) instead, and write the same sentence.
Your sentences report what happened. Write one question you would want answered before you decided what the vote meant.
Pick one bill from your group's three on congress.gov and open its actions. Was any action decided by a recorded vote? If yes, open it. If no, how did the bill move, or has it not moved yet?

Exit ticket

Vote 1 passed 425 to 0. If nobody was against it, why might someone have asked for a recorded vote at all?