00                   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 1                                                                   
01 Proposing an amendment to the Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature relating                                    
02 to voting procedure and abstention from voting.                                                                         
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04    * Section 1. Rule 34(b), Uniform Rules of the Alaska State Legislature is amended to read:                         
05 (b)  Abstention. Every member present in the house shall vote unless the house                                          
06 for special reasons permits a member to abstain. All motions excusing a member from                                     
07 voting shall be made before the house divides or before the call for the yeas and nays                                  
08 is commenced. A member requesting to be excused from voting may make a brief oral                                       
09 statement of the reasons for the request and the question of granting permission to                                     
10 abstain shall be taken without further debate. A member may not explain a vote, may                                     
11 not discuss the question while the yeas and nays are being called, and may not change                                   
12 a vote after the roll call result has been announced. Upon division and count of the                                    
13 house of any question a member who is not within the chamber may not be counted. A                                      
14 member may not be permitted to abstain except upon the unanimous consent of the                                         
15 membership. Upon a member's request to be excused from voting, the clerk or                                         
16 secretary shall record in the journal the member requesting to be excused, the                                      

01       stated reason for the request, and, if an objection to the request is made, the                               
02       member or members who objected.