

assuming US Senate: bills need 51 votes to pass, but by senate rules, the actual vote doesn’t happen until the debate period ends. because of this, historically, one person could simply stall the vote forever by talking, because the vote can’t happen until they finish. 60 senators can vote to end debate, and if the bill has 60 supporters, it’s going to get 51 votes in the actual vote for obvious math reasons. for reasons nobody really understands, the actual requirement for someone to talk got removed; now any senator can say “i declare neverending debate” and stop the vote from happening unless the other team has 60.



additionally, yes people have just stalled by talking, prior to the period we dropped the requirement for them to do that. most famously
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strom_Thurmond_filibuster_of_the_Civil_Rights_Act_of_1957