Does "voted present" mean "voted that the present law be maintained"?

[NewHopeR]

Context:

Out of the 300 members of Parliament, 199 voted yes, 74 voted no, 5 voted present while 22 were absent.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/wo...s.html?_r=1&hp

[SoothingDave]

No, it means they voted "I am here" when asked a yes/no question.

[Raymott]

No, it means they voted "I am here" when asked a yes/no question.

I've never heard of that. That's obviously an abstention. Is that the normal way to abstain? I suppose it has some profound historical significance.

[SoothingDave]

It's usually used when a politician doesn't want to be "on the record" for opponents to use his vote against him. A form of cowardice, in other words.

See this article on the practice in Illinois:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=18348437

[NewHopeR]

It's usually used when a politician doesn't want to be "on the record" for opponents to use his vote against him. A form of cowardice, in other words.

See this article on the practice in Illinois:

Examining Obama's 'Present' Votes in Illinois : NPR

Cool stuff.
Thank you.

[Tdol]

I've never heard of that. That's obviously an abstention. Is that the normal way to abstain? I suppose it has some profound historical significance.

New to me too.