A parliamentary vote is any vote by members of a deliberative assembly, such as a parliament or other legislative body. These votes are made on proposals that are brought forward to the assembly for consideration. Proposals are called motions and are referred to as either main or secondary. Main motions are considered to be the most important and are acted upon first, while secondary motions have a lower rank in terms of priority.
While the majority of parliamentary systems employ a plurality system in which the winner of each district receives the corresponding legislature seat, many countries also use proportional representation (PR) electoral systems to ensure that parties are represented at least to some extent based on their total number of votes. Examples of these PR systems include party list, proportional representation by districts, and the single transferable vote.
Regardless of the electoral system, most parliamentary systems have provisions that allow for an early dissolution of the parliament. This may be due to a no-confidence motion, a constitutional amendment, or prolonged deadlock. Some parliamentary rules require a supermajority for an early election, but this can be circumvented by the enactment of another statute that amends or ignores these requirements.
In addition, many parliamentary systems have provisions that allow for the broadcasting of plenary proceedings and, more recently, committee hearings. This is a popular practice in countries that have recently transitioned to democracy and has been instrumental in the transparency of parliamentary proceedings. It also provides an opportunity for citizens who otherwise would not have the chance to visit their parliament to observe and interact with their elected representatives.