A motion for division of a question, in parliamentary procedure

Parliamentary procedure

Parliamentary procedure is the body of rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies, and other deliberative assemblies...

, is used to split a motion

Motion (parliamentary procedure)

In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. In a parliament, this is also called a parliamentary motion and includes legislative motions, budgetary motions, supplementary budgetary motions, and petitionary...

 into a set of motions.

Explanation and Use

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR)

This motion is applicable when each of the different parts, although relating to a single subject, is capable of standing as a complete proposition without the others. The motion is made by saying, for instance, "I move to divide the resolution so as to consider separately...."

A motion to divide the question is not required when a single motion seeks approval of a series of propositions or resolutions on different subjects. Any member may obtain separate discussion and voting on any of the unrelated propositions or resolutions by making a demand for separate consideration, at any time before the unified motion is put to a vote.

Legislative Use

In the British House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

, a formal motion is not required to divide the question; since 1888, the Speaker

Speaker of the British House of Commons

The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...

 has held that a question consisting of two or more propositions, each of which is able to stand on its own, can be divided on the objection of any Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

.

History

The concept of a division of a question dates back to at least 1640, when the Lex Parliamentaria

Lex Parliamentaria

The Lex Parliamentaria; or, A treatise of the law and custom of the Parliaments of England, was a pocket manual for members of the English Parliament. It was originally attributed to George Petyt. However, the attribution to Irishman George Philips seems now to be widely accepted, and attribution...

noted, "If a Question upon a Debate contains more Parts than one, and Members seem to be for one Part, and not for the other; it may be moved, that the same may be divided into two, or more Questions: as Dec. 2, 1640, the Debate about the Election of two Knights was divided into two Questions."

Related Motions

Consideration by Paragraph, Consider by Parts, or Consider Seriatim are names for a similar motion whereby a complex motion is broken up to be deliberated part by part. Each part is considered tentatively and amended as necessary, then the whole motion is considered and voted on as a whole. This differs from the motion to divide a question which splits the motion into two or more independent motions that are taken up in sequence. Each new motion is deliberated and voted upon before taking up the next part.

The motion division of the question is not to be confused with division of the assembly, which is a call for a rising vote.