The Division Bell is used to describe a call to the house of
parliament in the
Australian and
British legal systems. When a major decision has to be made (e.g. the acceptance, or rejection of a new
bill), the division bell is rung. All the
members of
parliament eligible to
vote then rush from their
chambers into the
house (the place where parliament runs) to cast their votes. When the division bell stops, the doors to the house are closed, and no one else is admitted until the vote is cast.
It's called the division bell because once within the house those for and against physically move to different sides of the house.
Politicians take this seriously. For example, Mark Latham, a young Australian politician was recently caught when the division bell rang with his baby under his care. He couldn't find anyone to take care of the baby, so he took the baby with him.