Changing abstention vote

[Guest Nicole]

If a person abstains from a vote, can he change his vote to a yes or no after hearing everyone else's vote?

[Chris Harrison]

A member can change his vote unilaterally until the Chair announces the results of the vote. From the time that the Chair announces the results until the next item of business starts to be considered a member can change his vote only with unanimous consent. After the next item of business starts to be considered it is too late to change one's vote. See RONR pp. 408-409.

[Guest Edgar]

And, just to be a tad nit-picky, a person who first abstains and then votes isn't changing his vote at all since . . . all together now . . . an abstention is not a vote (FAQ #6).

[Gary Novosielski]

If a person abstains from a vote, can he change his vote to a yes or no after hearing everyone else's vote?

During a roll-call vote there is a way to accomplish this by "passing":

Each member, as his name is called, responds in the affirmative or negative.... If he does not wish to vote, he answers present (or abstain). If he is not ready to vote, but wishes to be called on again after the roll has been completely called, he answers pass.

If it's not a roll-call vote then individual votes are not recorded, so unless that one vote would change the outcome, it may not be worth worrying about.