Editing Division of the assembly (section)

== Ireland ==
In [[Dáil Éireann]], the lower house of the [[Oireachtas]], a division is a formal count that can be called for if a voice vote is deemed insufficient. The procedure for voting and divisions is specified by standing orders 70–77.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://webarchive.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/about/standingorders/consolidated-version-of-all-of-the-standing-orders-of-d%C3%A1il-%C3%89ireann,-9-may-2017.pdf#page=52 |title=Dáil Éireann Standing Orders Relative to Public Business together with Oireachtas Library and Research Service Rules |year=2016|publisher=Oireachtas|pages=36–39 |language=en |access-date=18 September 2018}}</ref> In [[Seanad Éireann]], the upper house, a similar procedure is laid out by standing orders 56–63.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/proceduraldocuments/SeanadSO2007.pdf#page=75|title=Seanad Standing Orders relative to Public Business|year=2007|publisher=Oireachtas|pages=56–63|language=en, ga|access-date=30 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017021818/http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/proceduraldocuments/SeanadSO2007.pdf#page=75|archive-date=17 October 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the Dáil the [[Ceann Comhairle]] (chair) puts the question and [[Teachta Dála|TD]]s (deputies) present say the Irish word ''tá'' (yes) or ''níl'' (no) respectively if they agree or disagree.<ref>Dáil SO 70(1)</ref> The Ceann Comhairle then gives an opinion on the voice vote. Any TD may demand a division by calling ''Vótáil'' (vote).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/education/glossary/|title=Glossary|work=Education|publisher=Oireachtas|page=Division|access-date=30 November 2010}}</ref> Since 2016, in an effort to reduce delays, many divisions are deferred until a weekly division time on Thursdays when they are taken one after another.<ref name="Dáil SO 702">Dáil SO 70(2)</ref> Previous to this, if the Ceann Comhairle suspected that fewer than ten TDs had called for a division, he asked them to rise; if the number was less than ten, their names were entered in the Dáil record but no division occurred. This process still is still used when holding the Thursday vote on a question,<ref>Dáil SO 72</ref> but the deferral of the vote until Thursday happens regardless of how few demand a vote.<ref name="Dáil SO 702"/>

The Dáil and Seanad [[division bell]]s are reproductions respectively of the [[Lough Lene Bell]] and the [[Bell of Armagh]];<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kilfeather |first1=Siobhán Marie |title=Dublin: A Cultural History |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195182019 |page=87 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8QWZRVAPa6sC&pg=PA87 |access-date=22 October 2019 |language=en}}</ref> At a division, bells sound and bulbs light around [[Leinster House]] and the adjoining Oireachtas buildings, calling legislators to the chamber; with differing sounds and lights for Dáil and Seanad votes.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} The bells ring for between two and six minutes,<ref>Dáil SO 71</ref> and the doors to the chamber are locked after a further one to four minutes. The Ceann Comhairle then appoints two tellers for each side and deputies present are given one minute to vote. Voting is usually electronic, with deputies pressing either the {{lang|ga|Tá}} (yes) or {{lang|ga|Níl}} (no) button on their desks. After the voting time has concluded a Division Paper recording the result and each TD's vote is signed by the four tellers and given to the Ceann Comhairle, who declares the result. Electronic voting was introduced in 2002.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Electronic Voting in Dáil Chamber is part of Major Oireachtas Reform Programme|publisher=Oireachtas|date=26 February 2002|url=http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=121|access-date=30 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011054128/http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=121|archive-date=11 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The traditional practice of voting by physically entering division lobbies is retained for some symbolically important votes: [[Confidence motions in Dáil Éireann|confidence motions]] and nominations of Ceann Comhairle, [[Taoiseach]] (Prime Minister) and [[Government of Ireland|cabinet ministers]].<ref>Dáil SO 73(1)</ref>

A group of at least 20 TDs may demand a non-electronic repeat of an electronic vote. A summer 2016 upgrade to the electronic voting system allowed a change to standing orders such that TDs may have an [[Blank vote|abstention from voting]] ({{lang|ga|Staon}}) formally recorded; for other purposes this is treated the same as not voting.<ref>Dáil SO 77(2)–(3); {{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/sub-committeeondailreform/Report-of-sub-Committee-on-Dail-Reform-regarding-changes-to-Standing-Orders-8th-June-2016.pdf#page=25|title=Abstentions|date=8 June 2016|work=Report of the sub-Committee on Dáil Reform regarding changes to Standing Orders|publisher=Oireachtas|page=25|access-date=8 December 2016}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/about/standingorders/Consolidated-version-of-all-of-the-Standing-Orders-of-D%C3%A1il-%C3%89ireann,-15-November-2016.pdf#page=56|title=Consolidated version of all of the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann currently in effect|date=15 November 2016|publisher=Oireachtas|pages=40, sec.77|access-date=8 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221052758/http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/about/standingorders/Consolidated-version-of-all-of-the-Standing-Orders-of-D%C3%A1il-%C3%89ireann,-15-November-2016.pdf#page=56|archive-date=21 December 2016|url-status=dead}}; {{cite news|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/why-is-does-the-dail-chamber-need-an-upgrade-2879194-Jul2016/|title=We'll be hearing a lot more from politicians after the summer recess|last=Ní Aodha|first=Gráinne|date=15 July 2016|quote=The electronic voting system in the Dáil chamber also needs to be upgraded to provide a button for TDs who want to abstain on votes. Currently, there is only a facility to cast a vote for or against a proposal.|work=[[TheJournal.ie]]|access-date=8 December 2016}}</ref>

Since 2016, the Ceann Comhairle has been elected in a [[secret ballot]] by [[Instant-runoff voting|alternative vote]] (ranked ballot), with the winner's ensuing nomination [[uncontested election|uncontested]] without a division.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kildarestreet.com/debates/?id=2016-01-28a.158|title=Standing Orders: Motion|date=28 January 2016|work=Dáil debates|publisher=KildareStreet.com|access-date=8 December 2016}}</ref> Secret-ballot [[single transferable vote]] elections were used in the 1920s, for the Dáil's 30 nominees to the [[1922 Seanad]],<ref>{{cite book |url=http://opac.oireachtas.ie/AWData/Library3/Library2/DL063618.pdf |title=Report on the conduct of the first election to Seanad Éireann |series=Official publications |volume=P.Pro 2/1923 |author=Department of Local Government |author-link=Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government |date=February 1923 |access-date=5 January 2014}}; Dáil debates 1922: [https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-11-01/20/ 1 Nov "Election of the Seanad. - Motions by the Minister for Local Government."], [https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-12-07/15/ 7 Dec "Elections to Seanad"], [https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-12-08/2/ 8 Dec "Result of Elections to Seanad"]</ref> and for the Dáil and Seanad's separate slates of candidates in the [[1925 Seanad election]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Ireland's Unique Electoral Experiment: The Senate Election of 1925 |doi=10.1080/07907180500359327 |first=John |last=Coakley |journal=Irish Political Studies |date = September 2005|volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=231–269 |s2cid=145175747 }}</ref><ref name="seanad1925">
Dáil 1925: [https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1925-06-19/9/ 19 June "Dail In Committee. - Election Of Seanad Members."], [https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1925-07-08/2/ 8 July "Selection Of Dail Panel For Seanad Election."], [https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1925-07-08/4/ 8 July "Announcement Of Results"]
Seanad 1925: [https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1925-06-19/4/ 19 June "Report Of Committee Re Procedure For Triennial Elections"], [https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1925-07-01/3/ 1 July "Panel For Triennial Election"], [https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1925-07-01/6/ 1 July "Seanad—Selection Of Panel"]
</ref> Ballots were distributed and submitted in the assembly chamber, then removed for counting; Dáil results were announced by the Ceann Comhairle in the chamber, whereas the Seanad adjourned for the day and allowed its [[Cathaoirleach]] (chair) to announce the results to the press that evening.<ref name="seanad1925"/>

===Incidents===
During the renomination of Taoiseach of [[Fianna Fáil]]'s [[Jack Lynch]] after the [[1969 Irish general election|1969 election]], the division bell continued to ring after the doors had been locked, while several Fianna Fáil deputies entered the chamber through an unlocked door.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/1969/07/02/00005.asp|title=Nomination of Taoiseach. Wednesday, 2 July 1969|year=1969|publisher=Oireachtas|language=en, ga|access-date=10 December 2010}}</ref>

In October 2019 several TDs admitted having, over previous months, pressed the voting button of an absent party colleague, either by accident or when they believed the colleague was elsewhere in the chamber during the division. News media reported that the Ceann Comhairle would propose suspending electronic voting pending investigation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McConnell |first1=Daniel |title=Scandal over Dáil voting deepens as more TDs become embroiled in controversy |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/barry-cowen-damien-english-caught-in-vote-scandal-958824.html |access-date=22 October 2019 |work=Irish Examiner |date=22 October 2019 |language=en}}</ref> On 22 October the Dáil committee on procedure commissioned a review by the [[Clerk (legislature)|clerk]] of the Dáil of the instances first reported, which had occurred on 17 October. The clerk's review and recommended changes to procedure was endorsed and published by the committee on 24 October, and debated in the Dáil chamber the same day.<ref>{{cite web |title=Report of the Committee on Procedure on the Review by the Clerk of Dáil Éireann of Electronic Voting in Dáil Éireann on Thursday 17 October 2019 |url=https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/committee/dail/32/committee_on_procedure_dail_eireann/reports/2019/2019-10-24_report-on-the-review-by-the-clerk-of-dail-eireann-of-electronic-voting-in-dail-eireann-on-thursday-17-october-2019_en.pdf |publisher=Oireachtas |access-date=29 October 2019}}; {{cite web |title=Report of the Committee on Procedure on Dáil Divisions: Statements |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2019-10-24/43/ |website=Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) debates |publisher=Oireachtas |access-date=29 October 2019 |language=en-ie |date=24 October 2019}}</ref> Some politicians described the report as a [[Whitewashing (censorship)|whitewash]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=McConnell |first1=Daniel |title=Report on Dáil votes 'a complete whitewash' |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/report-on-dail-votes-a-complete-whitewash-959630.html |access-date=29 October 2019 |work=Irish Examiner |date=25 October 2019 |language=en}}</ref>