free votes
No party line
Free votes are legislative votes where members may vote according to conscience rather than following party instructions.
Also called conscience votes, they typically arise on moral issues like abortion, capital punishment, or euthanasia: The prime minister allowed a free vote on assisted dying.
The term is used mainly in parliamentary systems with strong party discipline.
- parliamentNational legislative assembly
- House of CommonsElected parliamentary chamber
- debateFormal argument on issues
- deliberationCareful weighing of choices
- pollsOpinion surveys or voting sites
democracy · representation · franchise · liberty · choice · electorate · ballot · backbenchers · private members · unwhipped · cross-party · plurality · abstention · secret ballot · legislature · divisions · bill · filibuster