Attendance
The Constitution specifies that a majority of members constitutes a quorum to do business in each
house. Representatives and senators rarely force the presence of a quorum by demanding quorum
calls;
thus, in most cases, debates continue even if a majority is not present.
The Senate uses roll-call votes; a clerk calls out the names of all the senators, each senator
stating "aye" or "no" when his or her name is announced. The House reserves roll-call votes for
the
most formal matters, as a roll-call of all 435 representatives takes quite some time; normally,
members vote by electronic device. In the case of a tie, the motion in question fails. In the
Senate, the Vice President may (if present) cast the tiebreaking vote.
House at a glance
| Party |
Number of Reps |
% Voted with Party |
| {{ party.name }} |
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{{ party.voted_with_party_avg.toFixed(2) }} % |
