This year there were a number of major pieces of legislation that couldn't get a vote in the Democratically-controlled House after Speaker Frank Chopp said there wasn't enough support among his caucus to warrant a vote.

But those vote counts are closely held secrets. Only two people ever see the tally in the House, Chopp and his longtime deputy House Whip Sharon Tomiko Santos. All an advocate of a bill is told is that the votes weren't there; no tally, no peek at the numbers. Santos said that's the case no matter who asks:

"We've had caucuses where prime sponsors and committee chairs want to see the count and I won't share that. Frank can do that if he wants. That's his prerogative."

Democratic legislation stopped this session in part because the "votes weren't there" in the House include property tax restrictions, the so-called Wal-Mart bill to force companies to pay for employee health care, a funded family leave bill and a proposed restrictions on Maury Island gravel mining.

The secret vote counts are one of the many differences between how the House and Senate ruling caucuses operate.

"There are no private vote counts in the Senate," said Sen. Erik Poulsen, D-Seattle. He was the sponsor of the Maury Island bill and was told by Chopp Monday that there weren't enough votes among the House's 62 Democrats to insure it would pass. Poulsen was more optimistic and wanted Chopp to allow a vote.

"I thought we could get there and I was told we could not. I don't hold Chopp responsible for the Maury Island bill dying. But I sure wish he had brought it up because we could have gotten there."

The two men met Monday to discuss the bill, but Poulsen was not shown the vote count. In the Senate Democratic caucus, vote tallies are shared with all Democrats so they know who is with them and who needs to be pushed harder.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said that sometimes senators do their own vote count to show the caucus that there's enough support to warrant a floor vote. And those vote counts are usually seen as reliable. Sometimes lobbyists will do vote counts and the caucus whip, Sen. Debbie Regala, and others will then try to verify the count.

Brown said she hasn't found any downside to the open vote counts.

"That's the culture I came into and I've come to appreciate it."

Some of that comes from a smaller number of senators, and historically a narrower majority that has forced a more collegial process. It gives committee chairs more power than they have in the House.

In the House, a vote count of representatives is treated more like a vote at a polling place: It's secret. Santos said that allows members to tell her and her deputy whips what they really think about a piece of legislation without worrying about offending a colleague.

"Nobody sees that but me and Frank," she said. And that means that the vote tallies can be counted on as accurate. Santos said:

"It protects the integrity of our numbers and gives our Speaker numbers he can really count on."

But it also can leave a bill's sponsor wondering what the numbers really were, or what they could have been if the question had been asked differently. Poulsen told me Monday after his meeting with Chopp:

"Vote counting is an art, not a science. It depends on how you ask it and it depends on whether or not the bill is really coming up for a vote. If a legislator knows a bill's not coming up for a vote, they can say whatever they want and never be held accountable."

He says that sometimes on a close vote count it's worth forcing a vote because having to actually push a button in the House is the only true accurate count.

"There's a psychological factor that comes into play when an issue goes on the big board. I respect that Frank doesn't say yes to everyone. Unfortunately I was one of the guys who didn't win this time."

Democratic Rep. Chris Hurst has been trying for the past month or so to revive a bill that would reinstate property tax limits in Initiative 747, now under state Supreme Court review. Many Democrats oppose Hurst's move and say that if the court throws out the initiative Democrats should not be re-imposing the same restrictions in law.

The Democrats had a testy caucus and Chopp agreed to do a vote count. Chopp came up to Hurst last week to tell him there would be no vote. But Chopp didn't show Hurst the tally. "He said it wasn't even close," Hurst said.

As Santos pointed out, not even committee chairs can see the vote count. The power in the House is clearly concentrated in the speaker's office.

It's inside baseball. But that's the way it works.