Rule XII of the Standing Rules of the United States Senate

Standing Rules of the United States Senate

The Standing Rules of the Senate are the rules of order adopted by the United States Senate that govern its procedure. The Senate's power to establish rules derives from Article One, Section 5 of the United States Constitution: "Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings..."There are...

, established by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration is responsible for the rules of the United States Senate, with administration of congressional buildings, and with credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, including responsibility for dealing with contested elections.The committee...

, governs the voting procedures of the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

.

Voting procedure

Paragraph 1 states that when the yeas and nays (a recorded vote

Recorded vote

A recorded vote is a vote in which the names of those voting for and against a motion may be recorded.In many deliberative bodies , questions may be decided by voice vote, but the voice vote does not allow one to determine at a later date which members voted for and against the motion...

) are ordered, the names of Senators shall be called alphabetically. Each Senator shall declare his assent or dissent to the question without debate. No Senator shall be permitted to vote after the decision has been announced by the Presiding Officer

Presiding Officer of the United States Senate

The Presiding Officer is the person who presides over the United States Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents...

 unless excused by the Senate. A Senator may withdraw his or her vote only with sufficient reason and with unanimous consent. No motion to suspend this rule shall be in order. The Presiding Officer may not entertain any request to suspend it by unanimous consent

Unanimous consent

In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house, is a situation in which no one present objects to a proposal. The chair may state, for instance: "If there is no objection, the motion...

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Declining to vote

Paragraph 2 states that when a Senator's name is called on a vote and that Senator declines to vote, he shall be required to assign his or her reasons for refusal to vote. The Presiding Officer of the United States Senate shall assign the reasons and submit these as a question to the Senate. "Shall the Senator for the reasons assigned by him, be excused from voting?" This submission to the Senate is not debatable. A roll call

Roll call

Roll call is the calling of the names of people from a list to determine the presence or absence of the listed people . The term applies to the calling itself, to the time moment of this procedure, and to a military signal that announces it Roll call is the calling of the names of people from a...

 and result of yeas or nays are followed by the normal proceedings of the Senate.

Conflict of interest

Paragraph 3 states a member may decline to vote in committee, on the Senate floor, or on any matter believes that his voting on such a matter would be a conflict of interest

Conflict of interest

A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....

. This in spite of any other provisions of this rule.

Unanimous consent usage

Paragraph 4 states that a Senator may not request a unanimous consent in the taking of a final vote on a specified date upon the passage of a bill or joint resolution

Joint resolution

In the United States Congress, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires approval by the Senate and the House and is presented to the President for his/her approval or disapproval, in exactly the same case as a bill....

. It shall be submitted to the Senate for agreement after a quorum call

Quorum call

A quorum call or call to quorum is a parliamentary procedure used to summon absent members of a deliberative body if a quorum is not present. Since attendance at debates is not mandatory in most legislatures, it is often the case that a quorum of members is not present while debate is ongoing...

is ordered for this purpose by the Presiding Officer and shall be determined that a quorum of the Senate is present. When a unanimous consent is given the same shall operate as the order of the Senate. Any unanimous consent may be revoked by another unanimous consent granted in the manner prescribed above upon one day's notice.