In order to vote. The Member serving as presiding officer signs a green index card for a "yea" vote; a red one for "nay"; or an orange one for "present." The Chair then hands the card to the Tally Clerk at the rostrum for adding into the vote tally. Looking at the television screen, the Tally Clerk sits on the second tier of the

Rep. Ray LaHood in the Chair

rostrum to the left of the Reading Clerk's lectern. This method of voting allows the Member in the Chair to remain there, yet still cast a vote.

Meanwhile, the Members on the floor are voting electronically. There are 44 "voting stations" spread throughout the House chamber. The stations are small consoles attached to the backs of some of the seats on the House floor. Each Member has a personal coded I.D. card, the size of a plastic credit card. As soon as a Member votes at one of the consoles, his/her vote is instantly registered on a large screen visible to all in the chamber – but not seen on television. It is directly above the Speaker's chair. The light next to each name registers red [nay], green [yea], or orange [present] as soon as the Member votes.

You will often see a lot of Members looking up after they vote. They are looking at the voting board to assure themselves their vote was appropriately registered. On a few occasions, there have been technical problems resulting in a Member's vote not being registered. Some Members are so wary of this that they vote twice – at two different voting stations to make sure their vote has been recorded.

As long as the voting stations remain open, Members can change their vote simply by reinserting their card and pressing a different button. The second vote overrides the first. Once the voting stations have been shut down [usually at 15 minutes], Members can still change their vote if the Chair has not yet announced the final tally. But to do so, they must pick up the appropriate color tally card from the stack kept on a table in front of the rostrum, sign it, and hand it to the Tally Clerk. Members who enter the chamber late -- after the voting stations have been shut down but prior to the announcement of the final vote -- must also vote manually at the rostrum.

The final vote consists of the combined results of the ongoing electronic vote and those added in from the manual changed votes and late votes. As quickly as they come in, the Tally Clerk inserts the manual votes electronically into the system. He then hands the final numbers to the Chair, and they are announced to the chamber.

For more information, visit an earlier Capitol Question on the mechanics of voting in the House.