Casting vote
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A casting vote is a vote given to the presiding officer of a council or legislative body in order to resolve a deadlock. Examples of people who hold casting votes are the Speaker of the British House of Commons and the Vice President of the United States (in his capacity as President of the Senate).
In the legislatures of some countries, a casting vote may be exercised however the presiding officer wishes. An example is the Vice President of the United States, who usually votes according to his party affiliation or according to his own personal beliefs. This means that if the Senate is equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, the Vice President's party is the determining factor in who controls the Senate.
In other countries, however, a casting vote can only be exercised according to strict rules or conventions. For example, the Speaker of the British House of Commons is required by convention to vote for the policy of the Government of the day. This effectively means that if the House is tied on a Government bill, that bill is passed.
Some countries have abandoned the concept of a casting vote. For example, the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives formerly held a casting vote similar that of the Speaker of the British House of Commons. Today, however, the Speaker simply votes as an ordinary member, and since an outright majority is necessary for a bill to pass, a tie is considered to be a defeat.
Record of tie-breaking votes of U.S Vice Presidents
- John Adams (29)
- John C. Calhoun (28)
- George M. Dallas (19)
- Richard M. Johnson (17)
- Andrew Johnson (17)
- Schuyler Colfax (17)
- George Clinton (12)
- John C. Breckinridge (9)
- Thomas R. Marshall (8)
- Alben W. Barkley (8)
- Richard M. Nixon (8)
- Hannibal Hamlin (7)
- George H. W. Bush (7)
- Elbridge Gerry (6)
- William A. Wheeler (6)
- Richard B. Cheney (6, so far)
- Martin Van Buren (4)
- Levi P. Morton (4)
- James S. Sherman (4)
- Henry A. Wallace (4)
- Hubert H. Humphrey (4)
- Albert A. Gore (4)
- Thomas Jefferson (3)
- Aaron Burr (3)
- Daniel D. Tompkins (3)
- Millard Fillmore (3)
- Charles Curtis (3)
- John N. Garner (3)
- Chester A. Arthur (2)
- Adlai E. Stevenson (2)
- Charles G. Dawes (2)
- Spiro T. Agnew (2)
- Henry Wilson (1)
- Garret A. Hobart (1)
- Harry S. Truman (1)
- Walter F. Mondale (1)
- John Tyler (0)
- Thomas A. Hendricks (0)
- Theodore Roosevelt (0)
- Charles W. Fairbanks (0)
- Lyndon B. Johnson (0)
- Gerald R. Ford (0)
- Nelson A. Rockefeller (0)
- J. Danforth Quayle (1)
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