House of Commons extends electronic recording of votes to all divisions

Since October 2015, MPs voting in divisions under the new 'English votes for English laws' procedure have been recorded using tablet devices, rather than pen and paper. This system is now being implemented for all House of Commons divisions, meaning that as MPs file out of the division lobbies, House of Commons clerks will use custom software on a tablet to record the names of those voting. The appointed tellers will continue to manually count MPs as they leave the division lobbies and report the final figures in the Chamber at the end of the division.

Accurate recording of divisions and timely publication of division lists are critical business activities of the House of Commons. At the moment it takes 2-3 hours for division lists to appear in rolling Hansard. Tablet recording will allow division data to be made publicly available online much more quickly in the near future.

The House of Commons Service has been investigating means of electronic recording of divisions since October 2014, with a view to improving the timely publication of division lists, making division data more accessible to the public and easier to analyse, and improving accuracy.

David Natzler, Clerk of the House of Commons, said: “We are harnessing modern digital technology to make our work more effective, more efficient and more accessible, while respecting parliamentary conventions and traditions. Using tablet devices to record divisions will enable us in due course to publish the results much faster, meeting demand from the public who naturally want to know how Members have voted.”