A more thorough explanation:

Nay

"Nay" means "no". It is used when people are voting, either by speaking or writing. It is also used to announce the results of a vote.

• When the vote was called, John shouted "nay" because he didn't agree with the proposal.
• The nays had it, with 10 people voting against the proposal and only 5 voting for it.

These examples show how "nay" is used in voting. In the first example, John used "nay" to indicate that he was voting "no". In the second example, "the nays had it" means that the people who voted "no" won the vote.