Thank you for writing this—I intend to share it with a bunch of people. One question about your ‘voting by orders’ diagram: It looks like 7/12 clergy vote affirmatively, but it still passes somehow on a 2/3 clergy majority? Am I misreading that?
Thank you for reading, and please feel free to share widely! The diagram is correct, but you're not the only one to ask -- voting by orders is often the subject of some confusion.
In a typical vote in the House of Deputies (TEC Constitution, Article I Sec 5):
"the affirmative vote of a majority of all of the Deputies present and voting shall suffice to carry any question."
That is a count over every individual deputy. If a majority of deputies in total vote yes, regardless of the clergy vs. lay distribution of those deputies or which diocesan deputations they come from, then the resolution passes.
If a vote by orders is called for (I.5 again):
"the vote of each order, Clerical and Lay, shall be counted separately, each order in each Diocese shall have one vote, and a vote in the affirmative by an order in a Diocese shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of the Deputies present in that order in that Diocese. To carry in the affirmative any question being voted on by orders requires concurrence in the affirmative by both orders and... concurrence in the affirmative by an order requires the affirmative vote in that order by a majority of the Dioceses present in that order."
So here we are no longer simply counting over individual deputies. Instead of allocating eight total votes to each deputation -- one for each deputy -- now we are allocating two votes to each deputation: one "clergy" and one "lay". For a deputation to issue a "yes" clergy vote, a majority of clergy deputies in that deputation must vote yes (and since there are 4 clergy deputies per deputation, that amounts to 3 or 4 of those clergy deputies voting yes -- 2 counts as no). Same for issuing a "yes" lay vote. And in order for a resolution to pass a vote by orders, it must secure a "yes" clergy vote from the majority of the deputations, AND a "yes" lay vote from the majority of the deputations. (The "yes" clergy vs lay votes do not have to come from the same deputations! In other words, a single deputation can have lay deputies that vote no and clergy deputies that vote yes, or vice versa.)
So, back to the diagram. In it, there are 3 deputations -- AL, MA, and WY --, each with 4 clergy deputies and 4 lay deputies. To pass a vote by orders, 2 out of the 3 deputations must issue a "yes" clergy vote, and 2 out of the 3 deputations must issue a "yes" lay vote (the clergy vs lay yeses need not come from the same deputations). Any fewer is not a majority of clergy votes or a majority of lay votes. We see:
Count these up and you get 2/3 clergy votes and 2/3 lay votes, so the resolution passes the vote by orders.
The key is that a vote by orders isn't an absolute count of individual lay deputy votes vs clergy deputy votes -- it's a count of the lay vs clergy vote from each deputation.
Very clear and informative. I believe the lavender diagram near the end should be labeled "Provincial Assembly" not "Provincial Council."
You're absolutely right - corrected!
Very clear—thanks for helping me understand!
Thank you for writing this—I intend to share it with a bunch of people. One question about your ‘voting by orders’ diagram: It looks like 7/12 clergy vote affirmatively, but it still passes somehow on a 2/3 clergy majority? Am I misreading that?
Thank you for reading, and please feel free to share widely! The diagram is correct, but you're not the only one to ask -- voting by orders is often the subject of some confusion.
In a typical vote in the House of Deputies (TEC Constitution, Article I Sec 5):
"the affirmative vote of a majority of all of the Deputies present and voting shall suffice to carry any question."
That is a count over every individual deputy. If a majority of deputies in total vote yes, regardless of the clergy vs. lay distribution of those deputies or which diocesan deputations they come from, then the resolution passes.
If a vote by orders is called for (I.5 again):
"the vote of each order, Clerical and Lay, shall be counted separately, each order in each Diocese shall have one vote, and a vote in the affirmative by an order in a Diocese shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of the Deputies present in that order in that Diocese. To carry in the affirmative any question being voted on by orders requires concurrence in the affirmative by both orders and... concurrence in the affirmative by an order requires the affirmative vote in that order by a majority of the Dioceses present in that order."
So here we are no longer simply counting over individual deputies. Instead of allocating eight total votes to each deputation -- one for each deputy -- now we are allocating two votes to each deputation: one "clergy" and one "lay". For a deputation to issue a "yes" clergy vote, a majority of clergy deputies in that deputation must vote yes (and since there are 4 clergy deputies per deputation, that amounts to 3 or 4 of those clergy deputies voting yes -- 2 counts as no). Same for issuing a "yes" lay vote. And in order for a resolution to pass a vote by orders, it must secure a "yes" clergy vote from the majority of the deputations, AND a "yes" lay vote from the majority of the deputations. (The "yes" clergy vs lay votes do not have to come from the same deputations! In other words, a single deputation can have lay deputies that vote no and clergy deputies that vote yes, or vice versa.)
So, back to the diagram. In it, there are 3 deputations -- AL, MA, and WY --, each with 4 clergy deputies and 4 lay deputies. To pass a vote by orders, 2 out of the 3 deputations must issue a "yes" clergy vote, and 2 out of the 3 deputations must issue a "yes" lay vote (the clergy vs lay yeses need not come from the same deputations). Any fewer is not a majority of clergy votes or a majority of lay votes. We see:
- AL: 3/4 clergy deputies vote yes; 4/4 lay deputies vote yes; deputation issues 1 clergy vote and 1 lay vote.
- MA: 1/4 clergy deputies vote yes; 4/4 lay deputies vote yes; deputation issues 0 clergy vote and 1 lay vote.
- WY: 3/4 clergy deputies vote yes; 2/4 lay deputies vote yes; deputation issues 1 clergy vote and 0 lay vote.
Count these up and you get 2/3 clergy votes and 2/3 lay votes, so the resolution passes the vote by orders.
The key is that a vote by orders isn't an absolute count of individual lay deputy votes vs clergy deputy votes -- it's a count of the lay vs clergy vote from each deputation.
Hope that clears it up - let me know if not!